When one admits that nothing is certain one must, I think, also admit that some things are much more nearly certain than others.

I cannot favour laws such as that of Idaho, which allows sterilization of 'mental defectives, epileptics, habitual criminals, moral degenerates, and sex perverts.' The last two categories here are very vague . . . The law of Idaho would have justified the sterilization of Socrates, Plato, Julius Caesar, and St. Paul.

Dogmatism and skepticism are both, in a sense, absolute philosophies; one is certain of knowing, the other of not knowing. What philosophy should dissipate is certainty, whether of knowledge or ignorance.

The philosophies that have been inspired by scientific technique are power philosophies, and tend to regard everything non-human as mere raw material. Ends are no longer considered; only the skillfulness of the process is valued. This also is a form of madness. It is, in our day, the most dangerous form, and the one against which a sane philosophy should provide an antidote

My whole religion is this: do every duty, and expect no reward for it, either here or hereafter.

More important than the curriculum is the question of the methods of teaching and the spirit in which the teaching is given

Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd.