Science is not a sacred cow-but there are a large number of would-be sacred cowherds busily devoting quantities of time, energy and effort to the task of making it one, so they can be sacred cowherds.

No literature is sound, no philosophy of action workable, if it doesn't take a hard look at itself.

Write me a creature that thinks as well as a man or better than a man, but not like a man.

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?

History does not always repeat itself. Sometimes it just yells, 'Can't you remember anything I told you?' and lets fly with a club.

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

There's nothing quite so stultifying as having someone around who has all the answers-and gives them to you.