All historical writing, even the most honest, is unconsciously subjective, since every age is bound, in spite of itself, to make the dead perform whatever tricks it finds necessary for its own peace of mind.

My own mind is my own church.

Reason is incompetent to answer any fundamental question about God, or morality, or the meaning of life.

The significance of man is that he is insignificant and is aware of it.

To ask whether the natural rights philosophy of the Declaration of Independence is true or false, is essentially a meaningless question.

Serious thinkers are few, and the world is ruled by crude ideas.

No class of Americans, so far as I know, has ever objected . . . to any amount of governmental meddling if it appeared to benefit that particular class.