It appeared to me obvious that the happiness of mankind should be the aim of all action, and I discovered to my surprise that there were those who thought otherwise.

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

Any philosophy worth taking seriously would have to be built upon a firm foundation of unyielding despair.

The examination system, and the fact that instruction is treated mainly as a training for a livelihood, leads the young to regard knowledge from a purely utilitarian point of view as the road to money, not as the gateway to wisdom.

The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

Every sane and sensible and quiet thing we do is absolutely ignored by the press.

Real life is, to most men, a long second best, a perpetual compromise between the ideal and the possible.