The history of creation is but a succession of battles between amateurs of genius-inspired heretics- and orthodox professionals.

no subject of study is more important than reading…all other intellectual powers depend on it.

Idealism springs from deep feelings, but feelings are nothing without the formulated idea that keeps them whole.

The danger that may really threaten (crime fiction) is that soon there will be more writers than readers

Since it is seldom clear whether intellectual activity denotes a superior mode of being or a vital deficiency, opinion swings between considering intellect a privilege and seeing it as a handicap

Out of man's mind in free play comes the creation Science. It renews itself, like the generations, thanks to an activity which is the best game of homo ludens: science is in the strictest and best sense a glorious entertainment.

The nation in arms is virtually a communist state: the people must be paid wages and fed and protected and regimented behind the lines as much as on the front. Minds must be kept loyal and at the right pitch of hate, so that successive drafts of fighters are accepted without murmurings. Letters and newspapers must be censored while the propaganda mill grinds on. As for decisions of strategy and overall command, they must please many masters: dissenters in the cabinet, the heads of the allied states and public opinion. Hence failures must be disguised or concealed.