The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man's foot long enough read more

The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man's foot long enough to enable him to put the other somewhat higher. - Life and Letters of Thomas Huxley.

Wherever we find orderly, stable systems in Nature, we find that they are hierarchically structured, for the simple reason that read more

Wherever we find orderly, stable systems in Nature, we find that they are hierarchically structured, for the simple reason that without such structuring of complex systems into sub-assemblies, there could be no order and stability- except the order of a dead universe filled with a uniformly distributed gas.

Science commits suicide when it adopts a creed.

Science commits suicide when it adopts a creed.

A rising mass movement attracts and holds a following not by its doctrine and promises but by the refuge it read more

A rising mass movement attracts and holds a following not by its doctrine and promises but by the refuge it offers from the anxieties, barrenness and meaningless of an individual existence. It cures the poignantly frustrated not by conferring upon them an absolute truth or by remedying the difficulties and abuses which made their lives miserable, but by freeing them from their ineffectual selves- and it does this by enfolding and absorbing them into a closely knit and exultant corporate whole.

A doctrine insulates the devout not only against the realities around them but also against their own selves. The fanatical read more

A doctrine insulates the devout not only against the realities around them but also against their own selves. The fanatical believer is not conscious of his envy, malice, pettiness and dishonesty. There is a wall of words between his consciousness and his real self.

The wise man sometimes flees from society from fear of being
bored.

The wise man sometimes flees from society from fear of being
bored.

American society will never completely understand the true meaning of equality.

American society will never completely understand the true meaning of equality.

One of the surprising privileges of intellectuals is that they are free to be scandalously asinine without harming their reputations.

One of the surprising privileges of intellectuals is that they are free to be scandalously asinine without harming their reputations.

Without speculation there is no good and original observation.

Without speculation there is no good and original observation.