Too darned good a machine can be a menace, not a help.

Pioneering basically amounts to finding new and more horrible ways to die

We presuppose two things: that there is yet to be learned infinitely more than is now known, and that man can learn it.

It was the law that if a white man was caught trying to educate a Negro slave, he was liable to prosecution entailing a fine of fifty dollars and a jail sentence. . . Our ignorance was the greatest hold the South had on us. We knew we could run away, but what then?

Never accept the initial premise of the opposition.

Generally, a desirable, practically attainable idea, suggested in prophecy, has a chance of forcing itself into reality by its very existence.

That's the trouble with languages. They have to be learned.