The State did not own men so entirely, even when it could send them to the stake, as it sometimes does now where it can send them to the elementary school.

The object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid.

The cosmos is about the smallest hole that a man can hide his head in.

A detective story generally describes six living men discussing how it is that a man is dead. A modern philosophic story generally describes six dead men discussing how any man can possibly be alive.

The sceptic ultimately undermines democracy (1) because he can see no significance in death and such things of a literal equality; (2) because he introduces different first principles, making debate impossible: and debate is the life of democracy; (3) because the fading of the images of sacred persons leaves a man too prone to be a respecter of earthly persons; (4) because there will be more, not less, respect for human rights if they can be treated as divine rights.

Impartiality is a pompous name for indifference, which is an elegant name for ignorance.

The thing that cannot be defined is the first thing; the primary fact.