[There are m]oral precepts that we consider really important, such as 'don't pick your nose' or 'don't eat peas with a knife'. There may, for ought I know, be admirable reasons for eating peas with a knife, but . . . early persuasion has made me completely incapable of appreciating them.

You are a wicked motorcar, and I shall not give you any more petrol until you go.

The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt. Even those of the intelligent who believe that they have a nostrum are too individualistic to combine with other intelligent men from whom they differ on minor points.

The man who is unhappy will, as a rule, adopt an unhappy creed, while the man who is happy will adopt a happy creed; each may attribute his happiness or unhappiness to his beliefs, while the real causation is the other way round.

What has human happiness to do with morals? The object of morals is not to make people happy.

It is not my prayer and humility that you cause things to go as you wish, but by acquiring a knowledge of natural laws.

What the world needs is not dogma but an attitude of scientific inquiry.