Analogy is even slipperier than logic.

Since survival is the sine qua non, I now define the "moral behavior" as "behavior that tends toward survival".

The lessons of history teach us - if the lessons of history teach us anything - that nobody learns the lessons that history teaches us.

Most 'scientists' are bottle washers and button sorters.

There will always be survivors.

Moving parts in rubbing contact require lubrication to avoid excessive wear. Honorifics and formal politeness provide lubrication where people rub together. Often the very young, the untravelled, the naive, the sophisticated deplore these formalities as 'empty,' 'meaningless,' or 'dishonest,' and scorn to use them. No matter how 'pure' their motives, they thereby throw sand into machinery that does not work too well at best.

I wanted the feeling of romance and the sense of wonder I had known as a kid. I wanted the world to be what they had promised me it was going to be - instead of the tawdry, lousy fouled-up mess it is.