Man is the animal that intends to shoot himself out into interplanetary space, after having given up on the problem read more

Man is the animal that intends to shoot himself out into interplanetary space, after having given up on the problem of an efficient way to get himself five miles to work and back each day.

All mass movements generate in their adherents a readiness to die and a proclivity for united action; all of them, read more

All mass movements generate in their adherents a readiness to die and a proclivity for united action; all of them, irrespective of the doctrine they preach and the program they project, breed fanaticism, enthusiasm, fervent hope, hatred and intolerance; all of them are capable of releasing a powerful flow of activity in certain departments of life; all of them demand blind faith and singlehearted allegiance.

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.

There is no truth sure enough to justify persecution.

There is no truth sure enough to justify persecution.

Whenever the government of the United States shall break up, it will probably be in consequence of a false direction read more

Whenever the government of the United States shall break up, it will probably be in consequence of a false direction having been given to publick opinion. This is the weak point of our defenses, and the part to which the enemies of the system will direct all their attacks. Opinion can be so perverted as to cause the false to seem the true; the enemy, a friend, and the friend, an enemy; the best interests of the nation to appear insignificant, and trifles of moment; in a word, the right the wrong, and the wrong the right.

...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.

The Universe has as many different centers as there are living beings in it.

The Universe has as many different centers as there are living beings in it.

Man differs from the animal only by a little; most men throw that little away.

Man differs from the animal only by a little; most men throw that little away.

To most of us nothing is so invisible as an unpleasant truth. Though it is held before our eyes, pushed read more

To most of us nothing is so invisible as an unpleasant truth. Though it is held before our eyes, pushed under our noses, rammed down our throats- we know it not.