All men are brothers, we like to say, half-wishing sometimes in secret it were not true. But perhaps it is true. And is the evolutionary line from protozoan to Spinoza any less certain? That also may be true. We are obliged, therefore, to spread the news, painful and bitter though it may be for some to hear, that all living things on earth are kindred.

If you feel that you're not ready to die, never fear; nature will give you complete and adequate assistance when the time comes.

Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread. A civilization which destroys what little remains of the wild, the spare, the original, is cutting itself off from its origins and betraying the principle of civilization itself.

The most striking thing about the rich is the gracious democracy of their manners -- and the crude vulgarity of their way of life.

Life is cruel? Compared to what?

The true, unacknowledged purpose of capital punishment is to inspire fear and awe -- fear and awe of the State.

The missionaries go forth to Christianize the savages - as if the savages weren't dangerous enough already.