Punishment is now unfashionable... because it creates moral distinctions among men, which, to the democratic mind, are odious. We prefer read more

Punishment is now unfashionable... because it creates moral distinctions among men, which, to the democratic mind, are odious. We prefer a meaningless collective guilt to a meaningful individual responsibility.

The sort of dependence that results from exchange, i.e., from commercial transactions, is a reciprocal dependence. We cannot be dependent read more

The sort of dependence that results from exchange, i.e., from commercial transactions, is a reciprocal dependence. We cannot be dependent upon a foreigner without his being dependent on us. Now, this is what constitutes the very essence of society. To sever natural interrelations is not to make oneself independent, but to isolate oneself completely.

Every failure teaches a man something, to wit, that he will probably fail again.

Every failure teaches a man something, to wit, that he will probably fail again.

The Greeks invented logic but were not fooled by it.

The Greeks invented logic but were not fooled by it.

If anything were FULLY explained, everything would be explained.

If anything were FULLY explained, everything would be explained.

It's amazing how much panic one honest man can spread among a multitude of hypocrites.

It's amazing how much panic one honest man can spread among a multitude of hypocrites.

The pillars of truth and the pillars of freedom--they are the pillars of society.

The pillars of truth and the pillars of freedom--they are the pillars of society.

Some tribes [of monkeys] have taken to washing potatoes in the river before eating them, others have not. Sometimes migrating read more

Some tribes [of monkeys] have taken to washing potatoes in the river before eating them, others have not. Sometimes migrating groups of potato-washers meet non-washers, and the two groups watch each other's strange behavior with apparent bewilderment. But unlike the inhabitants of Lilliput, who fought holy crusades over the question at which end to break the egg, the potato-washing monkeys do not go to war with the non-washers, because the poor creatures have no language which would enable them to declare washing a diving commandment and eating unwashed potatoes a deadly heresy.

In history the way of annihilation is invariably prepared by inward degeneration, by decrease of life. Only then can a read more

In history the way of annihilation is invariably prepared by inward degeneration, by decrease of life. Only then can a shock from outside put an end to the whole.