The habit of looking to the future and thinking that the whole meaning of the present lies in what it will bring forth is a pernicious one. There can be no value in the whole unless there is value in the parts.
All the time that he can spare from the adornment of his person, he devotes to the neglect of his duties.
The average man’s opinions are much less foolish than they would be if he thought for himself.
A democrat need not believe that the majority will always reach a wise decision. He should however believe in the necessity of accepting the decision of the majority, be it wise or unwise, until such a time that the majority reaches another decision.
Public opinion is always more tyrannical towards those who obviously fear it than towards those who feel indifferent to it.
Fundamental happiness depends more than anything else upon what may be called a friendly interest in persons and things.
A world full of happiness is not beyond human power to create; the obstacles imposed by inanimate nature are not insuperable. The real obstacles lie in the heart of man, and the cure for these is a firm hope, informed and fortified by thought.
It appeared to me obvious that the happiness of mankind should be the aim of all action, and I discovered to my surprise that there were those who thought otherwise.
To be happy in this world, especially when youth is past, it is necessary to feel oneself not merely an isolated individual whose day will soon be over, but part of the stream of life slowing on from the first germ to the remote and unknown future.
A man without a bias cannot write interesting history – if indeed such a man exists.
Life and hope for the world are to be found only in the deeds of love.
There are certain things that our age needs. It needs, above all, courageous hope and the impulse to creativeness.
I am sometimes shocked by the blasphemies of those who think themselves pious.
Of course not. After all, I may be wrong.
There is no excuse for deceiving children. And when, as must happen in conventional families, they find that their parents have lied, they lose confidence in them and feel justified in lying to them.
What men really want is not knowledge but certainty.
Love as a relation between men and women was ruined by the desire to make sure of the legitimacy of children.
St. Paul introduced an entirely novel view of marriage, that it existed primarily to prevent the sin of fornication. It is just as if one were to maintain that the sole reason for baking bread is to prevent people from stealing cake.
You could live without the opera singer, but not without the services of the baker. On this ground you might say that the baker performs a greater service; but no lover of music would agree.
If one man offers you democracy and another offers you a bag of grain, at what stage of starvation do you prefer the grain to the vote?