All men are naturally included to obscure the morally ambiguous element in their political cause by investing it with religious sanctity.

That is one of the flagrant misconceptions about Catholicism in America that if a man is a Catholic he owes allegiance to what they say a foreign sovereign, or something like that.

Civilization depends upon the vigorous pursuit of the highest values by people who are intelligent enough to know that their values are qualified by their interests and corrupted by their prejudices.

What is so funny about us is precisely that we take ourselves too seriously. Laughter is the same and healthy response to the innocent foibles of men; and even to some which are not innocent.

[There is] an increasing tendency among modern men to imagine themselves ethical because they have delegated their vices to larger and larger groups.

The recalcitrant forces in the historical drama have a power and persistence beyond our reckoning.

All this talk about atheistic materialism and God-fearing American I think is beside the point; it's a rather vapid form of religion.