Human life, its growth, its hopes, fears, loves, et cetera, are the result of accidents

Hatred of enemies is easier and more intense than love of friends. But from men who are more anxious to injure opponents than to benefit the world at large no great good is to be expected.

Contempt for happiness is usually contempt for other people's happiness, and is an elegant disguise for hatred of the human race.

As for earthquakes, though they were still formidable, they were so interesting that men of science could hardly regret them.

Awareness of universals is called conceiving, and a universal of which we are aware is called a concept.

Our great democracies still tend to think that a stupid man is more likely to be honest than a clever man, and our politicians take advantage of this prejudice by pretending to be even more stupid than nature has made them.

Most of the greatest evils that man has inflicted upon man have come through people feeling quite certain about something which, in fact, was false.