Civilizations can only be understood by those who are civilized.

In formal logic, a contradiction is the signal of defeat, but in the evolution of real knowledge it marks the first step in progress toward a victory.

The science of pure mathematics, in its modern developments, may claim to be the most original creation of the human spirit.

Religion is the reaction of human nature to its search for God.

The consequences of a plethora of half-digested theoretical knowledge are deplorable.

A race preserves its vigor so long as it harbors a real contrast between what has been and what may be; and so long as it is nerved by the vigor to adventure beyond the safeties of the past. Without adventure civilization is in full decay.

No science can be more secure than the unconscious metaphysics which tacitly it presupposes.