Can a society in which thought and technique are scientific persist for a long period, as, for example, ancient Egypt persisted, or does it necessarily contain within itself forces which must bring either decay or explosion?

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

Whoever wishes to become a philosopher must learn not to be frightened by absurdities.

The point of philosophy is to start with something so simple as not to seem worth stating, and to end with something so paradoxical that no one will believe it.

If one man offers you democracy and another offers you a bag of grain, at what stage of starvation do you prefer the grain to the vote?

A million million years gives us some time to prepare for the end . . . let us make the best of it.

The axiomatic method has many advantages over honest work.