It is not what the man of science believes that distinguishes him, but how and why he believes it. His beliefs are tentative, not dogmatic; they are based on evidence, not on authority or intuition.

Politics is largely governed by sententious platitudes which are devoid of truth

Descartes, the father of modern philosophy ... would never-so he assures us-have been led to construct his philosophy if he had had only one teacher, for then he would have believed what he had been told; but, finding that his professors disagreed with each other, he was forced to conclude that no existing doctrine was certain.

I've made an odd discovery. Every time I talk to a savant I feel quite sure that happiness is no longer a possibility. Yet when I talk with my gardener, I'm convinced of the opposite.

The thing that I should wish to obtain from money would be leisure with security.

A marriage is likely to be called happy if neither party ever expected to get much happiness out of it.

The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.