The supreme function of reason is to show man that some things are beyond reason.

Wise leaders generally have wise counselors because it takes a wise person themselves to distinguish them.

For my part, I consider that it will be found much better by all parties to leave the past to history, especially as I propose to write that history myself.

Life is a dead-end street.

There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception.

Surely wisdom will come as we listen to learn from children, parents, partners, neighbors, Church leaders, and the Lord.

A process which led from the amoeba to man appeared to the philosophers to be obviously a progress though whether the amoeba would agree with this opinion is not known.

Since we cannot know all that there is to be known about anything, we ought to know a little about everything.

Death does not concern us, because as long as we exist, death is not here. And when it does come, we no longer exist.

Whatever you cannot understand, you cannot possess.

A professor must have a theory as a dog must have fleas.

The misfortune of the wise is better than the prosperity of the fool.

Now that I’m a parent, I understand why my father was in a bad mood a lot.

He who loves 50 people has 50 woes; he who loves no one has no woes.

Do not ask for what you will wish you had not got.

The finest works of art are precious, among other reasons, because they make it possible for us to know, if only imperfectly and for a little while, what it actually feels like to think subtly and feel nobly.

Old age is just a record of one’s whole life.

People are more aware now of cities and of different ways of life. I suppose the writing I do is a bit in the past, and I’m not sure it’s the kind of writing I would do if I were starting now.

As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods; they kill us for their sport.

What air is to the body, to feel understood is to the heart.

I don’t like to commit myself about heaven and hell – you see, I have friends in both places.

It would be a terrific innovation if you could get your mind to stretch a little further than the next wisecrack.

Choose silence of all virtues, for by it you hear other men’s imperfections, and conceal your own.

No; we have been as usual asking the wrong question. It does not matter a hoot what the mockingbird on the chimney is singing. The real and proper question is: Why is it beautiful?

Whatever is well said by another, is mine.

Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

To the press alone, chequered as it is with abuses, the world is indebted for all the triumphs which have been gained by reason and humanity over error and oppression.

He who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition will waste his life in fruitless efforts.

Bad news isn’t wine. It doesn’t improve with age.

Habit is a second nature that destroys the first. But what is nature? Why is habit not natural? I am very much afraid that nature itself is only a first habit, just as habit is a second nature.

Shall I tell you what the real evil is? To cringe to the things that are called evils, to surrender to them our freedom, in defiance of which we ought to face any suffering.

A loving heart is the truest wisdom.

Egoism is the very essence of a noble soul.

It’s a tragedy, in a way, that Americans are brought up to think that they cannot feel for other people and other beings just because they are different. They think they’re different. It’s very limiting.

I’m married. My wife, Stella – a beautiful woman. She’s brought a lot of peace to my life, a lot of wisdom.

He alone is free who lives with free consent under the entire guidance of reason.

The world itself is the will to power – and nothing else! And you yourself are the will to power – and nothing else!

There was never yet fair woman but she made mouths in a glass.

Religions get lost as people do.

For the world to be interesting, you have to be manipulating it all the time.

There is but an inch of difference between a cushioned chamber and a padded cell.

To free a person from error is to give, and not to take away.

All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree.

Judges ought to be more leaned than witty, more reverent than plausible, and more advised than confident. Above all things, integrity is their portion and proper virtue.

Nothing happens to any man that he is not formed by nature to bear.

I am getting to the point where the only love worth being in is the love worth singing about.

There is nothing, Sir, too little for so little a creature as man. It is by studying little things that we attain the great art of having as little misery and as much happiness as possible.

We should understand the source of our authority and something of the keys that control its power.

Mystical explanations are thought to be deep; the truth is that they are not even shallow.

I think there is only one quality worse than hardness of heart and that is softness of head.

I have never entered into any controversy in defense of my philosophical opinions; I leave them to take their chance in the world. If they are right, truth and experience will support them; if wrong, they ought to be refuted and rejected. Disputes are apt to sour one’s temper and disturb one’s quiet.

Knowledge is a polite word for dead but not buried imagination.

Riches are a good hand maiden, but a poor mistress.

The degree of one’s emotions varies inversely with one’s knowledge of the facts.

If the people are happy, united, wealthy, and powerful, we presume the rest. We conclude that to be good from whence good is derived.

Seek not the favor of the multitude; it is seldom got by honest and lawful means. But seek the testimony of few; and number not voices, but weigh them.

Start with what is right rather than what is acceptable.

No notice is taken of a little evil, but when it increases it strikes the eye.

I seldom think of politics more than eighteen hours a day.

Truth is a good dog; but always beware of barking too close to the heels of an error, lest you get your brains kicked out.

We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for a while, but sooner or later this combustible mixture of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces.