It is a governing principle of nature, that the agency which can produce most good, when perverted from its proper aim, is most productive of evil. It behooves the well-intentioned, therefore, vigorously to watch the tendency of even their most highly prized institutions, since that which was established in the interests of the right, may so easily become the agent of the wrong.
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The meaning of life is not to be discovered only after death in some hidden, mysterious realm; on the contrary, read more
The meaning of life is not to be discovered only after death in some hidden, mysterious realm; on the contrary, it can be found by eating the succulent fruit of the Tree of Life and by living in the here and now as fully and creatively as we can.
Scientific research sooner or later, but inevitably, encounters something ultimately given that it cannot trace back to something else of read more
Scientific research sooner or later, but inevitably, encounters something ultimately given that it cannot trace back to something else of which it would appear as the regular or necessary derivative. Scientific progress consists in pushing further back this ultimately given.
The unpredictability inherent in human affairs is due largely to the fact that the by-products of a human process are read more
The unpredictability inherent in human affairs is due largely to the fact that the by-products of a human process are more fateful than the product.
Every man's ability may be strengthened or increased by culture.
Every man's ability may be strengthened or increased by culture.
Glory is largely a theatrical concept. There is no striving for glory without a vivid awareness of an audience.
Glory is largely a theatrical concept. There is no striving for glory without a vivid awareness of an audience.
Proselytizing is more a passionate search for something not yet found than a desire to bestow upon the world something read more
Proselytizing is more a passionate search for something not yet found than a desire to bestow upon the world something we already have. It is a search for a final and irrefutable demonstration that our absolute truth is indeed the one and only truth. The proselytizing fanatic strengthens his own faith by converting others.
...man has an irrepressible tendency to read meaning into the buzzing confusion of sights and sounds impinging on his senses; read more
...man has an irrepressible tendency to read meaning into the buzzing confusion of sights and sounds impinging on his senses; and where no agreed meaning can be found, he will provide it out of his own imagination.
...one of the tests of a theory is that, once grasped, it appears self-evident.
...one of the tests of a theory is that, once grasped, it appears self-evident.
The rule seems to be that those who find no difficulty in deceiving themselves are easily deceived by others. They read more
The rule seems to be that those who find no difficulty in deceiving themselves are easily deceived by others. They are easily persuaded and led.
