Curious learning not only makes unpleasant things less unpleasant but also makes pleasant things more pleasant.

But if thought is to become the possession of many, not the privilege of the few, we must have done with fear. It is fear that holds men back - fear lest their cherished beliefs should prove delusions, fear lest the institutions by which they live should prove harmful, fear lest they themselves should prove less worthy of respect than they have supposed themselves to be.

Science, by itself, cannot supply us with an ethic. It can show us how to achieve a given end, and it may show us that some ends cannot be achieved. But among ends that can be achieved our choice must be decided by other than purely scientific considerations. If a man were to say, "I hate the human race, and I think it would be a good thing if it were exterminated," we could say, "Well, my dear sir, let us begin the process with you." But this is hardly argument, and no amount of science could prove such a man mistaken.

Calculating machines do sums better than even the cleverest people… As arithmetic has grown easier, it has come to be less respected.

Philosophy is an unusually ingenious attempt to think fallaciously.

Right conduct can never, except by some rare accident, be promoted by ignorance or hindered by knowledge.

Power is sweet; it is a drug, the desire for which increases with a habit.