The human understanding is no dry light, but receives infusion from the will and affections; which proceed sciences which may read more

The human understanding is no dry light, but receives infusion from the will and affections; which proceed sciences which may be called "sciences as one would." For what a man had rather were true he more readily believes. Therefore he rejects difficult things from impatience of research; sober things, because they narrow hope; the deeper things of nature, from superstition; the light of experience, from arrogance and pride; things not commonly believed, out of deference to the opinion of the vulgar. Numberless in short are the ways, and sometimes imperceptible, in which the affections color and infect the understanding.

Not life, but good life, is to be chiefly valued.

Not life, but good life, is to be chiefly valued.

The only Zen you find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there.

The only Zen you find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there.

Be free all worthy spirits, and stretch yourselves, for greatness and for height.

Be free all worthy spirits, and stretch yourselves, for greatness and for height.

The foundation of all morality is to have done, once and for all, with lying; to give up pretending to read more

The foundation of all morality is to have done, once and for all, with lying; to give up pretending to believe that for which there is no evidence, and repeating unintelligible propositions about things beyond the possibilities of knowledge.

I still say a church steeple with a lightening rod on top shows a lack of confidence.

I still say a church steeple with a lightening rod on top shows a lack of confidence.

Mother goddesses are just as silly a notion as father gods. If a revival of the myths of these cults read more

Mother goddesses are just as silly a notion as father gods. If a revival of the myths of these cults gives woman emotional satisfaction, it does so at the price of obscuring the real conditions of life. This is why they were invented in the first place.

I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the read more

I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to colleagues, which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by thread, into the fabric of their lives.

The most costly of all follies is to believe passionately in the palpably not true. It is the chief occupation read more

The most costly of all follies is to believe passionately in the palpably not true. It is the chief occupation of mankind.