One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important.
Aristotle maintained that women have fewer teeth than men; although he was twice married, it never occurred to him to verify this statement by examining his wives' mouths.
Aristotle could have avoided the mistake of thinking that women have fewer teeth than men, by the simple device of asking Mrs. Aristotle to keep her mouth open while he counted.
Religions, which condemn the pleasures of sense, drive men to seek the pleasures of power. Throughout history power has been the vice of the ascetic.
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?
A happy life must be to a great extent a quiet life, for it is only in an atmosphere of quiet that true joy dare live.
Awareness of universals is called conceiving, and a universal of which we are aware is called a concept.
Both in thought and in feeling, even though time be real, to realise the unimportance of time is the gate of wisdom.
The observer, when he seems to himself to be observing a stone, is really, if physics is to be believed, observing the effects of the stone upon himself.
The megalomaniac differs from the narcissist by the fact that he wishes to be powerful rather than charming, and seeks to be feared rather than loved. To this type belong many lunatics and most of the great men of history.
The coward wretch whose hand and heart Can bear to torture aught below, Is ever first to quail and start From the slightest pain or equal foe.
Democracy is the process by which people choose the man who'll get the blame.
None but a coward dares to boast that he has never known fear.
Boredom is... a vital problem for the moralist, since half the sins of mankind are caused by the fear of it.
I believe in using words, not fists. I believe in my outrage knowing people are living in boxes on the street. I believe in honesty. I believe in a good time. I believe in good food. I believe in sex.
Religions that teach brotherly love have been used as an excuse for persecution, and our profoundest scientific insight is made into a means of mass destruction.
Against my will, in the course of my travels, the belief that everything worth knowing was known at Cambridge gradually wore off. In this respect my travels were very useful to me.
Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness.
The man who can centre his thoughts and hopes upon something transcending self can find a certain peace in the ordinary troubles of life, which is impossible to the pure egoist.
The demand for certainty is one which is natural to man, but is nevertheless an intellectual vice.
