Even the paradise of fools is not an unpleasant abode while it is inhabitable.

Man, as we know him, is a poor creature; he is halfway between an ape and a god and he is travelling in the right direction.

The right use of leisure is no doubt a harder problem than the right use of our working hours. The soul is dyed the color of its leisure thoughts.

In imperialism nothing fails like success. If the conqueror oppresses his subjects, they will become fanatical patriots, and sooner or later have their revenge; if he treats them well, and governs them for their good, they will multiply faster than their rulers, till they claim their independence.

A nation is a society united by a delusion about its ancestry and by common hatred of its neighbours.

I think middle-age is the best time, if we can escape the fatty degeneration of the conscience which often sets in at about fifty.

The whole of nature, as has been said, is a conjugation of the verb to eat, in the active and in the passive.