Necessity is blind until it becomes conscious. Freedom is the consciousness of necessity.

A man cannot become a child again, or he becomes childish.

In every stockjobbing swindle every one knows that some time or other the crash must come, but every one hopes that it may fall on the head of his neighbor, after he himself has caught the shower of gold and placed it in safety.

Even an entire society, a nation, or all simultaneously existing societies taken together, are not owners of the earth. They are simply its possessors, its beneficiaries, and have to bequeath it in an improved state to succeeding generations.

If one wants to be an ox one can easily turn one's back on hum suffering and look after one's own skin.

Philosophy is to science as masturbation is to sex.

We know that violent measures against religion are nonsense; but this is an opinion: as socialism grows, religion will disappear. Its disappearance must be done by social development, in which education must play a part.