I find it valid to understand man as an animal before I am prepared to know him as a man.

I find it valid to understand man as an animal before I am prepared to know him as a man.

...most scientific problems are far better understood by studying their history than their logic.

...most scientific problems are far better understood by studying their history than their logic.

It is the test of a good religion whether you can make a joke about it.

It is the test of a good religion whether you can make a joke about it.

The collective matrix of a science at a given time is determined by a kind of establishment, which includes universities, read more

The collective matrix of a science at a given time is determined by a kind of establishment, which includes universities, learned societies, and, more recently, the editorial offices of technical journals. Like other establishments, they are consciously or unconsciously bent on preserving the status quo- partly because unorthodox innovations are a threat to their authority, but also because of the deeper fear that their laboriously erected an intellectual edifice might collapse under the impact.

Where intellectuals have played a role in history, it has not been so much by whispering words of advice into read more

Where intellectuals have played a role in history, it has not been so much by whispering words of advice into the ears of political overlords as by contributing to the vast and powerful currents of conceptions and misconceptions that sweep human action along.

Words have ruined more souls than any devil's agency.

Words have ruined more souls than any devil's agency.

The fanatic is not really a stickler to principle. He embraces a cause not primarily because of its justness or read more

The fanatic is not really a stickler to principle. He embraces a cause not primarily because of its justness or holiness but because of his desperate need for something to hold onto.

Every change in conditions will make necessary some change in the use of resources, in the direction and kind of read more

Every change in conditions will make necessary some change in the use of resources, in the direction and kind of human activities, in habits and practices. And each change in the actions of those affected in the first instance will require further adjustments that will gradually extend through the whole of society. Every change thus in a sense creates a "problem" for society, even though no single individual perceives it as such; it is gradually "solved" by the establishment of a new overall adjustment.

Bureaucracy is a giant mechanism operated by pygmies.

Bureaucracy is a giant mechanism operated by pygmies.