Man is a rational animal—so at least I have been told. … Aristotle, so far as I know, was the first man to proclaim explicitly that man is a rational animal. His reason for this view was … that some people can do sums. … It is in virtue of the intellect that man is a rational animal. The intellect is shown in various ways, but most emphatically by mastery of arithmetic. The Greek system of numerals was very bad, so that the multiplication table was quite difficult, and complicated calculations could only be made by very clever people.

The theoretical understanding of the world, which is the aim of philosophy, is not a matter of great practical importance to animals, or to savages, or even to most civilised men.

The dictum that human nature cannot be changed is one of those tiresome platitudes that conceal from the ignorant the depths of their own ignorance.

I am myself a dissenter from all known religions, and I hope that every kind of religious belief will die out.

To realize the unimportance of time is the gate to wisdom.

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

If you wish to be happy yourself, you must resign yourself to seeing others also happy.