I'm sick of all the reasonable people: they see all the reasons for doing nothing

We should have had socialism already, but for the socialists, am quite willing to drop the name if dropping it will help me to get the thing.

But whether the risks to which liberty exposes us are moral or physical our right to liberty involves the right to run them. A man who is not free to risk his neck as an aviator or his soul as a heretic is not free at all; and the right to liberty begins, not at the age of 21 years but 21 seconds.

All progress is due to the unreasonable person.

Our prejudices are so deeply rooted that we never think of them as prejudices but call them common sense.

I hate performers who debase great works of art; I long for their annihilation.

The art of manipulating public opinion, which is a necessary art for the democratic politician, and, like other arts, is sometimespractised with greater virtuosity by knaves than by honest men (who are apt to disdain it), has a different technique in different countries. For instance, in England we excel in whitewashing: in America they excel in tarring and feathering. We strain our nerves and stretch our consciences to avoid a scandal: Americans do the same to make one.