Where intellectuals have played a role in history, it has not been so much by whispering words of advice into read more

Where intellectuals have played a role in history, it has not been so much by whispering words of advice into the ears of political overlords as by contributing to the vast and powerful currents of conceptions and misconceptions that sweep human action along.

We must beware of trying to build a society in which nobody counts for anything except a politician or an read more

We must beware of trying to build a society in which nobody counts for anything except a politician or an official, a society where enterprise gains no reward and thrift no privileges.

That is the whole trouble with being a heretic. One usually must think out everything for oneself.

That is the whole trouble with being a heretic. One usually must think out everything for oneself.

Man only plays when in the full meaning of the word he is a man, and he is only completely read more

Man only plays when in the full meaning of the word he is a man, and he is only completely a man when he plays.

Curiosity killed the cat, but for awhile I was a suspect.

Curiosity killed the cat, but for awhile I was a suspect.

The process of evolution may be described as differentiation of structure and integration of function. The more differentiated and specialized read more

The process of evolution may be described as differentiation of structure and integration of function. The more differentiated and specialized the parts, the more elaborate co-ordination is needed to create a well-balanced whole. The ultimate criterion of the value of a functional whole is the degree of its internal harmony or integratedness, whether the "functional whole" is a biological species or a civilization or an individual. A whole is defined by the pattern of relations between its parts, not by the sum of its parts; and a civilization is not defined by the sum of its science, technology, art and social organization, but by the total pattern which they form, and the degree of harmonious integration in that pattern.

There is in the universe something for the description and analysis of which the natural sciences cannot contribute anything. There read more

There is in the universe something for the description and analysis of which the natural sciences cannot contribute anything. There are events beyond the range of those events that the procedures of the natural sciences are fit to observe and describe. There is human action.

The common idea that success spoils people by making them vain, egotistic, and self-complacent is erroneous; on the contrary it read more

The common idea that success spoils people by making them vain, egotistic, and self-complacent is erroneous; on the contrary it makes them, for the most part, humble, tolerant, and kind. Failure makes people bitter and cruel.

A system in which the two great commandments were, to hate your
neighbour and to love your neighbour's wife.

A system in which the two great commandments were, to hate your
neighbour and to love your neighbour's wife.