To do the opposite of something is also a form of imitation, namely an imitation of its opposite.
— Georg C. Lichtenberg
There are very many people who read simply to prevent themselves from thinking.
I believe that man is in the last resort so free a being that his right to be what he believes himself to be cannot be contested.
Nothing is more conducive to peace of mind than not having any opinion at all.
We cannot remember too often that when we observe nature, and especially the ordering of nature, it is always ourselves alone we are observing.
God created man in His own image, says the Bible; philosophers reverse the process: they create God in theirs.
A person reveals his character by nothing so clearly as the joke he resents.
Perhaps in time the so-called Dark Ages will be thought of as including our own.
I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better.
Doubt must be no more than vigilance, otherwise it can become dangerous.
Prejudices are so to speak the mechanical instincts of men: through their prejudices they do without any effort many things they would find too difficult to think through to the point of resolving to do them.
If all else fails, the character of a man can be recognized by nothing so surely as by a jest which he takes badly.
The fly that doesn't want to be swatted is most secure when it lights on the fly-swatter.
What is the good of drawing conclusions from experience? I don't deny we sometimes draw the right conclusions, but don't we just as often draw the wrong ones?
One must judge men not by their opinions, but by what their opinions have made of them.
Never undertake anything for which you wouldn't have the courage to ask the blessings of heaven.
Just as we outgrow a pair of trousers, we outgrow acquaintances, libraries, principles, etc., at times before they're worn out and times - and this is the worst of all - before we have new ones.
There is no greater impediment to progress in the sciences than the desire to see it take place too quickly.
Every man has his moral backside which he refrains from showing unless he has to and keeps covered as long as possible with the trousers of decorum.
If you are going to build something in the air it is always better to build castles than houses of cards.
We have no words for speaking of wisdom to the stupid. He who understands the wise is wise already.
He who is in love with himself has at least this advantage - he won't encounter many rivals.
Men still have to be governed by deception.
Man loves company - even if it is only that of a small burning candle.
Everyone is a genius at least once a year. The real geniuses simply have their bright ideas closer together.
