Wars are never fought for one reason," he said. "They are fought for dozens of reasons, in a muddle.

It is a pity that there are no big creatures to prey on humanity. If there were enough dragons and rocs, perhaps mankind would turn its might against them. Unfortunately man is preyed upon by microbes, which are too small to be appreciated.

The most difficult thing in the world is to know how to do a thing and to watch someone else do it wrong without comment.

Life is such unutterable hell, solely because it is sometimes beautiful. If we could only be miserable all the time, if there could be no such things as love or beauty or faith or hope, if I could be absolutely certain that my love would never be returned: how much more simple life would be. One could plod through the Siberian salt mines of existence without being bothered about happiness.

You think education is something to be done when all else fails?

Unfortunately we have tried to establish Right by Might, and you can 't do that.

All forms of collectivism are mistaken, according to the human skull.