-
O, Youth: Do you know that yours is not the first generation to yearn for a life full of beauty and freedom?
-
From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know: that we are here for the sake of each other - above all for those upon whose smile and well-being our own happiness depends, and also for the countless unknown souls with whose fate we are connected by a bond of sympathy. Many times a day I realize how much my own outer and inner life is built upon the labors of my fellow men, both living and dead, and how earnestly I must exert myself in order to give in return as much as I have received.
-
I fully agree with you about the significance and educational value of as well as history and philosophy of science. So many people today - and even professional - seem to me like someone who has seen thousands of trees but has never seen a forest. A knowledge of the historic and philosophical background gives that kind of independence from prejudices of his generation from which most scientists are suffering. This independence created by philosophical insight is - in my opinion - the mark of distinction between a mere artisan or specialist and a real seeker after truth.
-
Philosophers play with the word, like a child with a doll.... It does not mean that everything in life is relative.
-
But the personality that finally emerges is largely formed by the environment in which a man happens to find himself during his development, by the structure of the society in which he grows up, by the tradition of that society, and by its appraisal of particular types of behavior.
-
A conviction akin to religious feeling of the rationality or intelligibility of the world lies behind all scientific work of a high order.
-
I wouldn't want to live if I did not have my work. In any case, it's good that I'm already old and personally don't have to count on a prolonged future.
-
If men as individuals surrender to the call of their elementary instincts, avoiding pain and seeking satisfaction only for their own selves, the result for them all taken together must be a state of insecurity, of fear, and of promiscuous misery.
-
The more cruel the wrong that men commit against an individual or a people, the deeper their hatred and contempt for their victim.
-
Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.
-
Man is, at one and the same time, a solitary being and a social being. As a solitary being, he attempts to protect his own existence and that of those who are closest to him, to satisfy his personal desires, and to develop his innate abilities. As a social being, he seeks to gain the recognition and affection of his fellow human beings, to share in their pleasures, to comfort them in their sorrows, and to improve their conditions of life.
-
A brave man, whose only fault was being a woman.
-
I have lived to prove Thoreau's contention that a man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone.
-
A model should be as simple as it can be but no simpler.
-
Those instrumental goods which should serve to maintain the life and health of all human beings should be produced by the least possible labour of all.
-
A religious person is devout in the sense that he has no doubt about the significance of those superpersonal objects and goals which neither require nor are capable of rational foundation.
-
Creative energy is more critical than learning.
-
I cannot accept any concept of God based on the fear of life or the fear of death, or blind faith. I cannot prove to you that there is no personal God, but if I were to speak of him I would be a liar.
-
I should very much like to remain in the darkness of not having been analyzed.
-
I have firmly decided to bite the dust with a minimum of medical assistance when my time comes, and up to then to sin to my wicked heart's content.
-
Only strong characters can resist the temptation of superficial analysis.
-
Members of legislative bodies are selected by political parties, largely financed or otherwise influenced by private capitalists who, for all practical purposes, separate the electorate from the legislature. The consequence is that the representatives of the people do not in fact sufficiently protect the interests of the underprivileged sections of the population.
-
Time and space are not conditions of existence, time and space is a model for thinking.
-
I would not think that philosophy and reason themselves will be man's guide in the foreseeable future; however, they will remain the most beautiful sanctuary they have always been for the select few.