Disapproval is a very important factor in all progress. There has really never been any progress without it.

Disapproval is a very important factor in all progress. There has really never been any progress without it.

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.

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.

A man that would expect to train lobsters to fly in a year is called a lunatic; but a man read more

A man that would expect to train lobsters to fly in a year is called a lunatic; but a man that thinks men can be turned into angels by an election is a reformer and remains at large.

Sin lies only in hurting others unnecessarily. All other "sins" are invented nonsense.

Sin lies only in hurting others unnecessarily. All other "sins" are invented nonsense.

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.

Do not waste your time on Social Questions. What is the matter with the poor is Poverty; what is the read more

Do not waste your time on Social Questions. What is the matter with the poor is Poverty; what is the matter with the rich is Uselessness.

You can find your way across this country using burger joints the way a navigator uses stars.

You can find your way across this country using burger joints the way a navigator uses stars.

The human race, to which so many of my readers belong, has been playing at children's games from the beginning, read more

The human race, to which so many of my readers belong, has been playing at children's games from the beginning, and will probably do it till the end, which is a nuisance for the few people who grow up. And one of the games to which it is most attached is called, ''Keep tomorrow dark,'' and which is also named (by the rustics in Shropshire, I have no doubt) ''Cheat the Prophet.'' The players listen very carefully and respectfully to all that the clever men have to say about what is to happen in the next generation. The players then wait until all the clever men are dead, and bury them nicely. Then they go and do something else. That is all. For a race of simple tastes, however, it is great fun.