A permissive government is a government that leaves control to other sources.

Death does not trouble me. I have no fear of supernatural punishments, of course, nor could I enjoy an eternal life in which there would be nothing left for me to do, the task of living having been accomplished.

Let men be happy, informed, skillful, well behaved, and productive.

We shouldn't teach great books; we should teach a love of reading. Knowing the contents of a few works of literature is a trivial achievement. Being inclined to go on reading is a great achievement.

Better contraceptives will control population only if people will use them. A nuclear holocaust can be prevented only if the conditions under which nations make war can be changed. The environment will continue to deteriorate until pollution practices are abandoned. We need to make vast changes in human behavior.

It is not a question of starting. The start has been made. It's a question of what's to be done from now on.

I will be dead in a few months. But it hasn't given me the slightest anxiety or worry. I always knew I was going to die.