Every single morning I wake with a bang,' he said. 'It's as though the fact that I am alive is injected into me; I am a character in a fairytale, bursting with life.

Then you have a big problem, because a human is a thinking animal. If you don't think, you're not really a human.

The stupidest thing she knew was for people to act like they knew all about the things they knew absolutely nothing about.

He could very likely have appealed for leniency. At least he could have saved his life by agreeing to leave Athens. But had he done this he would not have been Socrates. He valued his conscience--and the truth-- higher than life.

It takes billions of years to create a human being. And it takes only a few seconds to die.

It's not a silly question if you can't answer it.

Only philosophers embark on this perilous expedition to the outermost reaches of language and existence. Some of them fall off, but others cling on desperately and yell at the people nestling deep in the snug softness, stuffing themselves with delicious food and drink. 'Ladies and Gentlemen,' they yell, 'we are floating in space!' But none of the people down there care.