The believing mind is externally impervious to evidence. The most that can be accomplished with it is to induce it to substitute one delusion for another. It rejects all overt evidence as wicked.

All government, in its essence, is a conspiracy against the superior man: its one permanent object is to oppress him and cripple him.

Watching two women kiss is like watching two prizefighters shake hands.

One of the main purposes of laws in a democratic society is to put burdens upon intelligence and reduce it to impotence. Ostensibly, their aim is to penalize anti-social acts; actually their aim is to penalize heretical opinions. At least ninety-five Americans out of every 100 believe that this process is honest and even laudable; it is practically impossible to convince them that there is anything evil in it. In other words, they cannot grasp the concept of liberty.

Voting is simply a way of determining which side is the stronger without putting it to the test of fighting.

The difference between the smartest dog and the stupidest man - say a Tennessee Holy Roller - is really very small.

Henry James would have been vastly improved as a novelist by a few whiffs of the Chicago stockyard.