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.

Perhaps in time the so-called Dark Ages will be thought of as including our own.

Perhaps in time the so-called Dark Ages will be thought of as including our own.

It is a governing principle of nature, that the agency which can produce most good, when perverted from its proper read more

It is a governing principle of nature, that the agency which can produce most good, when perverted from its proper aim, is most productive of evil. It behooves the well-intentioned, therefore, vigorously to watch the tendency of even their most highly prized institutions, since that which was established in the interests of the right, may so easily become the agent of the wrong.

Today the world changes so quickly that in growing up we take leave not just of youth but of the read more

Today the world changes so quickly that in growing up we take leave not just of youth but of the world we were young in.

If there is no struggle there is no progress.

If there is no struggle there is no progress.

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.

Only God helps the badly dressed.

Only God helps the badly dressed.

Cultures contain many cues and inducements to dissuade the individual from approaching ultimate limits, in much the same way that read more

Cultures contain many cues and inducements to dissuade the individual from approaching ultimate limits, in much the same way that a special warning strip of land around the edge of a baseball field lets a player know that he is about to run into a concrete wall when he is preoccupied with catching the ball. The wider that strip of land and the more sensitive the player is to the changing composition of the ground under his feet as he pursues the ball, the more effective the warning. Romanticizing or lionizing as "individualistic" those people who disregard social cues and inducements increases the danger of head-on collisions with inherent social limits. Decrying various forms of social disapproval is in effect narrowing the warning strip.

The several sorts of religion in the world are little more than so many spiritual monopolies.

The several sorts of religion in the world are little more than so many spiritual monopolies.