War is one of the constants of history, and it has not diminished with civilization or democracy.
The finger that turns the dial rules the air.
Those who know nothing about history are doomed forever to repeat it.
As long as there is poverty there will be gods.
The great snare of thought is uncritical acceptance of irrational assumptions.
Science tells us how to heal and how to kill; it reduces our death rate in retail and then kills us wholesale in war; but only wisdom – desire coordinated in the light of all experience – can tell us when to heal and when to kill.
Human progress having reached a high level through respect for the liberty and dignity of men, it has become desirable to re-affirm these evident truths.
I have tried to be impartial, though I know that a man’s past always colors his views, and that nothing else is so irritating as impartiality.
Philosophy begins when one learns to doubt – particularly to doubt one’s cherished beliefs, one’s dogmas and one’s axioms.
If a man is fortunate he will, before he dies, gather up as much as he can of his civilized heritage and transmit it to his children.
History repeats itself in the large because human nature changes with geological leisureliness.
History is always repeating itself, but each time the price goes up.
History seldom destroys that which does not deserve to die; and the burning of the tares makes for the next sowing a richer soil.
The soul of a civilization is its religion, and it dies with its faith.
Underneath all civilization, ancient or modern, moved and still moves a sea of magic, superstition, and sorcery. Perhaps they will remain when the works of our reason have passed away.
Music and religion are as intimately related as poetry and love; the deepest emotions require for their civilized expression the most emotional of arts.
Often your face is your autobiography.
I came to think of myself, not as a dance and chaos of molecules, but as a brief and minute portion of that majestic process.
Man is an emotional animal, occasionally rational; and through his feelings he can be deceived to his heart’s content.
Civilizaton is the interval between Ice Ages.