It is very good for a man to talk about what he does not understand; as long as he understands read more

It is very good for a man to talk about what he does not understand; as long as he understands that he does not understand it.

It is perhaps not entirely so, though it has often been said, that man makes his God in his own read more

It is perhaps not entirely so, though it has often been said, that man makes his God in his own image. Rather does he create Him in the image of his cravings and dreams- in the image of what man wants to be. God making could be part of the process by which a society realizes its aspirations: it first embodies them in the conception of a particular God, and then proceeds to imitate that God. The confidence requisite for attempting the unprecedented is most effectively generated by the fiction that in realizing the new we are imitating rather than originating. Our preoccupation with heaven can be part of an effort to find precedents for the unprecedented.

The most basic question is not what is best but who shall decide what is best.

The most basic question is not what is best but who shall decide what is best.

...definitions are temporary verbalizations of concepts, and concepts- particularly difficult concepts- are usually revised repeatedly as our knowledge and understanding read more

...definitions are temporary verbalizations of concepts, and concepts- particularly difficult concepts- are usually revised repeatedly as our knowledge and understanding grows.

You have succeeded in life when all you really want is only what you really need.

You have succeeded in life when all you really want is only what you really need.

People are just as happy as they make up their minds to be.

People are just as happy as they make up their minds to be.

Happiness is like a butterfly: the more you chase it, the more it will elude you. But if you turn read more

Happiness is like a butterfly: the more you chase it, the more it will elude you. But if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder."

It's amazing how much "mature wisdom" resembles being too tired.

It's amazing how much "mature wisdom" resembles being too tired.

Happiness is not in our circumstance but in ourselves. It is not something we see, like a rainbow, or feel, read more

Happiness is not in our circumstance but in ourselves. It is not something we see, like a rainbow, or feel, like the heat of a fire. Happiness is something we are