It takes a vice to check a vice, and virtue is the by-product of a stalemate between opposite vices.

A dissenting minority feels free only when it can impose its will on the majority: what it abominates most is the dissent of the majority.

The purpose of philosophers is to show people what is right under their noses.

It is startling to realize how much unbelief is necessary to make belief possible.

Help your sister's boat across the water, and yours too will reach the other side. Kindness can become its own motive. We are made kind by being kind.

To know a person's religion we need not listen to his profession of faith but must find his brand of intolerance.

Someone who thinks the world is always cheating him is right. He is missing that wonderful feeling of trust in someone or something.