philosophy

"Take the actions of our nearest friends, and how little do we know of the hopes that instigated, or of the fears that prevailed ! We sometimes cannot avoid owning that we ourselves have committed a fa…"

"Then there's the law that any person found carrying a Swanhook, the same being neither a Swanherd in good standing nor accompanied by two certified Swanherds, or Swannerds , of known probity, should c…"

"To expect wickedness from human beings is the best way I know of to avoid surprises. And when I am surprised, it’s always pleasantly."

"Whenever such practices as failing to carry out the Party's ideas and policies unconditionally, abusing one's authority, acting bureaucratically, enjoying privileges and being corrupt are revealed amo…"

"In the eye of that Supreme Being to whom our whole internal frame is uncovered, dispositions hold the place of actions."

"It's the worst kind of bad film: the kind that gets you all worked up and then lets you down, instead of just being lousy from the first shot."

"Dear little Vivian, all the way from the clean fields of Minnesota, and not a Swede either, and almost a virgin too, just a few men short of being a virgin."

"Moviemaking is so male-dominated now that they think they’re being pro-feminine when they have women punching each other out."

"There's no such thing as a genius in politics, or at least I have never met one. There are only human beings, some better than others, who rise or fall on the challenges they meet."

"Under the Constitution giving 'aid and comfort' to a wartime enemy can lead to a charge of treason."

"The object of this paper is to give a satisfactory account of the Foundations of Mathematics in accordance with the general method of Frege, Whitehead and Russell. Following these authorities, I hold …"

"For Shaw as for Goethe, the obligation to strive is a primary feeling: reason initiates nothing and would stop everything. Its use is to come after the fact and devise helpful justification of action.…"

"I took down my portfolio, to select a drawing to copy in oil. He had never seen my works before, and appeared astonished as his eyes ranged over the sheets. He expressed the warmest admiration, and sa…"

"It was a lousy plan, the only thing to commend it being the fact that all the alternatives were worse."

"All our ideas are representations of the objects that affect our senses; then what can be represented by the idea of God, which is obviously an idea without an object? Isn't such an idea, or will add,…"

"It is sometimes maintained that racial mixture is biologically undesirable. There is no evidence whatever for this view. Nor is there, apparently, any reason to think that Negroes are congenitally les…"

"Abu Karima al-Miqdam ibn Ma'dikarib said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, "A human being fills up no vessel worse than his belly. Enough for a son of Ada…"

"We wish to control big business so as to secure among other things good wages for the wage-workers and reasonable prices for the consumers. Wherever in any business the prosperity of the businessman i…"

"I don't like playing politics, I don't like having bosses and being told what to do, I don't like competition, I have no desire to manage other people, so I've instinctively avoided or quickly left an…"

"Straightforward preaching spoils the effectiveness of a story. If you can't resist the impulse to improve your fellow human beings, do it subtly."