A dead thing goes with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.

Science must not impose any philosophy, any more than the telephone must tell us what to say.

I believe what really happens in history is this: the old man is always wrong; and the young people are always wrong about what is wrong with him. The practical form it takes is this: that, while the old man may stand by some stupid custom, the young man always attacks it with some theory that turns out to be equally stupid.

The Party System was founded on one national notion of fair play. It was the notion that folly and futility should be fairly divided between both sides.

Forms of expression always appear turgid to those who do not share the emotions they represent.

Fairy tales are more than true.

When we really worship anything, we love not only its clearness but its obscurity. We exult in its very invisibility.