If the experiments which I urge be defective, it cannot be difficult to show the defects; but if valid, then by proving the theory, they must render all objections invalid.

History should be written as philosophy.

How happy is the blameless vestal’s lot? The world forgetting, by the world forgot.

The story as told in The Odyssey doesn’t hold water. There are too many inconsistencies.

States are as the men, they grow out of human characters.

We never fully grasp the import of any true statement until we have a clear notion of what the opposite untrue statement would be.

The intersection of law, politics, and technology is going to force a lot of good thinking.

A commodity appears at first sight an extremely obvious, trivial thing. But its analysis brings out that it is a very strange thing, abounding in metaphysical subtleties and theological niceties.

It is easy enough to define what the Commonwealth is not. Indeed this is quite a popular pastime.

That the divided but contiguous particles of bodies may be separated from one another is a matter of observation; and, in the particles that remain undivided, our minds are able to distinguish yet lesser parts, as is mathematically demonstrated.

The most successful war seldom pays for its losses.

Humor is the most engaging cowardice.

I read the book of Job last night, I don’t think God comes out well in it.

History, a distillation of rumour.

It is my belief that nearly any invented quotation, played with confidence, stands a good chance to deceive.

In politics stupidity is not a handicap.

There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion.

My theory of evolution is that Darwin was adopted.

The best and safest method of philosophizing seems to be first to inquire diligently into the properties of things, and establishing those properties by experiments, and then to proceed more slowly to hypotheses for the explanation of them.

We dissect failure a lot more than we dissect success.

Experience never errs; it is only your judgments that err by promising themselves effects such as are not caused by your experiments.

Reputation is an idle and most false imposition; oft got without merit, and lost without deserving.

Certain defects are necessary for the existence of individuality.

A president has an inescapable responsibility to provide direction: What are we trying to achieve? What are we trying to prevent? Why? To do that, he has to both analyze and reflect.

I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours.

Nothing is so fatal to religion as indifference.

There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.

When you think about it, Adolf Hitler was the first pop star.

If you’re in business or politics, you need to have an intense understanding of what’s going on around you.

The economy’s always been the engine for our national security.

Will minus intellect constitutes vulgarity.

Experts often possess more data than judgment.

We should not look at terrorism from the nameplates – which group they belong to, what is their geographical location, who are the victims. These individual groups or names will keep changing.

Next to the young, I suppose the very old are the most selfish.

For, if a good speaker, never so eloquent, does not see into the fact, and is not speaking the truth of that – is there a more horrid kind of object in creation?

Politics I supposed to be the second-oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.

Wit is the epitaph of an emotion.

Women love us for our defects. If we have enough of them, they will forgive us everything, even our gigantic intellects.

There is good and mediocre writing within every genre.

Politics are a very unsatisfactory game.

This administration is going to be cussed and discussed for years to come.

The theory seems to be that as long as a man is a failure he is one of God’s children, but that as soon as he succeeds he is taken over by the Devil.

I think that in the discussion of natural problems we ought to begin not with the Scriptures, but with experiments, and demonstrations.

Nothing is more despicable than respect based on fear.

Corruption is one of the most common reasons I hear in views that criticize aid.

I think the materialist conception of history is valid.

Hoover was a patriot in his heart, but he definitely exceeded his power.

Froth at the top, dregs at bottom, but the middle excellent.

It’s clearly a budget. It’s got a lot of numbers in it.

In the last analysis, what we are communicates far more eloquently than anything we say or do.

Blood alone moves the wheels of history.

In the wake of the events of 11 September 2001, it now seems clear that the shock of the attacks was exploited in America.

There is only one thing a philosopher can be relied upon to do, and that is to contradict other philosophers.

A true critic ought to dwell upon excellencies rather than imperfections, to discover the concealed beauties of a writer, and communicate to the world such things as are worth their observation.

It has yet to be proven that intelligence has any survival value.

Pop is totally results-oriented and there is a very strong feedback loop.

The Cuban model doesn’t even work for us anymore.

I have hardly ever known a mathematician who was capable of reasoning.

Politics is the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month and next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn’t happen.

An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory.

Beauties in vain their pretty eyes may roll; charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul.