A man of active and resilient mind outwears his friendships just as certainly as he outwears his love affairs, his politics and his epistemology.

There is no record in human history of a happy philosopher: they exist only in romantic legend.

If we assume that man actually does resemble God, then we are forced into the impossible theory that God is a coward, an idiot and a bounder.

A Galileo could no more be elected president of the United States than he could be elected Pope of Rome. Both high posts are reserved for men favored by God with an extraordinary genius for swathing the bitter facts of life in bandages of self-illusion.

The theory behind representative government is that superior men-or at least men not inferior to the average in ability and integrity-are chosen to manage the public business, and that they carry on this work with reasonable intelligence and honest. There is little support for that theory in known facts.

Balloonists have an unsurpassed view of the scenery, but there is always the possibility that it may collide with them.

When you sympathize with a married woman you either make two enemies or gain one wife and one friend.