One of the main causes of trouble in the world is dogmatic and fanatical belief in some doctrine for which there is no adequate evidence

I've always thought respectable people scoundrels, and I look anxiously at my face every morning for signs of my becoming a scoundrel.

This, however, is a passing nightmare; in time the earth will become again incapable of supporting life, and peace will return.

The method of "postulating" what we want has many advantages; they are the same as the advantages of theft over honest toil.

Clergymen almost necessarily fail in two ways as teachers of morals. They condemn acts which do no harm and they condone acts which do great harm.

No satisfaction based upon self-deception is solid, and however unpleasant the truth may be, it is better to face it once and for all, to get used to it, and to proceed to build your life in accordance with it.

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.