Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.
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Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed.
Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed.
You can find your way across this country using burger joints the way a navigator uses stars.
You can find your way across this country using burger joints the way a navigator uses stars.
It is only because the majority opinion will always be opposed by some that our knowledge and understanding progress. In read more
It is only because the majority opinion will always be opposed by some that our knowledge and understanding progress. In the process by which opinion is formed, it is very probable that, by the time any view becomes a majority view, it is no longer the best view: somebody will already have advanced beyond the point which the majority have reached. It is because we do not yet which of the many competing new opinions will prove itself the best that we wait until it has gained sufficient support.
The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man's foot long enough read more
The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man's foot long enough to enable him to put the other somewhat higher. - Life and Letters of Thomas Huxley.
In most instances, all an argument proves is that two people are present.
In most instances, all an argument proves is that two people are present.
Every man...should periodically be compelled to listen to opinions which are infuriating to him. To hear nothing but what is read more
Every man...should periodically be compelled to listen to opinions which are infuriating to him. To hear nothing but what is pleasing to one is to make a pillow of the mind.
The best way I know to win an argument is to start by being in the right.
The best way I know to win an argument is to start by being in the right.
When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous read more
When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.
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.
