Men can know more than their ancestors did if they start with a knowledge of what their ancestors had already learned....That is why a society can be progressive only if it conserves its traditions.

The decay of decency in the modern age, the rebellion against law and good faith, the treatment of human beings as things, as the mere instruments of power and ambition, is without a doubt the consequence of the decay of the belief in man as something more than an animal animated by highly conditioned reflexes and chemical reactions. For, unless man is something more than that, he has no rights that anyone is bound to respect, and there are no limitations upon his conduct which he is bound to obey.

We are all captives of the picture in our head - our belief that the world we have experienced is the world that really exists.

It is impossible to abolish either with a law or an axe the desires of men.

The genius of a good leader is to leave behind him a situation which common sense, without the grace of genius, can deal with successfully.

Certainly he is not of the generation that regards honesty as the best policy. However, he does regard it as a policy.

It is easier to develop great power than it is to know how to use it wisely.