Anyone can see a forest fire. Skill lies in sniffing the first smoke.

Anyone can see a forest fire. Skill lies in sniffing the first smoke.

Custom, that unwritten law, By which the people keep even kings in awe.

Custom, that unwritten law, By which the people keep even kings in awe.

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.

It is common to assume that human progress affects everyone- that even the dullest man, in these bright days, knows read more

It is common to assume that human progress affects everyone- that even the dullest man, in these bright days, knows more than any man of, say, the Eighteenth Century, and is far more civilized. This assumption is quite erroneous...The great masses of men, even in this inspired republic, are precisely where the mob was at the dawn of history. They are ignorant, they are dishonest, they are cowardly, they are ignoble. They know little if anything that is worth knowing, and there is not the slightest sign of a natural desire among them to increase their knowledge.

There arises from a bad and inapt formation of words, a wonderful obstruction to the mind.

There arises from a bad and inapt formation of words, a wonderful obstruction to the mind.

Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.

Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.

There is no such thing as philosophy-free science; there is only science whose philosophical baggage is taken on board without read more

There is no such thing as philosophy-free science; there is only science whose philosophical baggage is taken on board without examination.

Don't ever take a fence down until you know the reason it was put up.

Don't ever take a fence down until you know the reason it was put up.

When reality becomes unbearable, the mind must withdraw from it and create a world of artificial perfection. Plato's world of read more

When reality becomes unbearable, the mind must withdraw from it and create a world of artificial perfection. Plato's world of pure Ideas and Forms, which alone is to be considered as real, whereas the world of nature which we perceive is merely its cheap Woolworth copy, is a flight into delusion.