"Every University is ruled by a triumvirate of interests: those who came
to receive learning; those who came to impart learning; and those who have
nothing whatsoever to do with learning."
"I do not believe in the zero-sum game. It ascribes too much generosity
to the Universe."
"Imagination without information is groundless. Information without
imagination is soulless."
"Fanaticism is simply moral laziness. Possession of a good set
of lungs hides the lack of a good set of brains."
"The only difference between a madman and a genius is that we force a
madman to live in our world, whereas a genius forces us to live in his."
"Ideas cannot be immoral; only action can. Advocacy cannot be illegal;
only execution can."
"When you burn a book, you throw civilization on the flames."
"This is the way of the modern tyrant: Force over fact; intensity over
intelligence; tantrum over truth."
"Political leadership is an oxymoron. So is political science."
"Nothing succeeds like success ... except superior firepower."
"The concept of a free market is a contradiction in terms. In pure
capitalism, nothing is free -- Humanity least of all."
"The need for Law is evidence of humanity's fall from grace. The
existence of Law is evidence of our long climb back."
"Nothing is as hard to tolerate as tolerance."
"To say, 'Judge a man not by what he does, but by what he is' is an idiocy.
Being is one form of doing, and we see only a man's actions, never his conscience."
"You Americans are a funny people. Either you act without thought
of consequences, or you remain paralyzed by fear of them."
"The true nobility of the human spirit lies not in acheiving good ends
but in sticking to good means, no matter the opposition or temptation.
Struggling against impossible and unwinnable situations is the essence of
humanity."
"The proverb is correct: A little knowledge is dangerous.
But the only safety lies in more knowledge."
"Those who see too much Truth generally up in asylumss. Those who
see too little generally end up as preachers."
"There is but one natural right: the right to die. Nature gives
you nothing else. All other human rights, though inalienable and intrinsic,
arise only from the dynamics of human interaction."
"Without ever noticing the contradiction, many people pray to a God who
is both just and merciful."
"It must be remembered always that Light can blind as surely as Darkness."
"An expert is a fool who loudly proclaim his own wrong opinion ... and
gets paid for it."
"Humans are not fallen angels. Angles are in fact fallen humans."
"All life is economics. All economics is illusion. Draw whatever
conclusions you like."
"Moral goodness is simply a term indicating that one does not know enough
to be efficiently evil."
"Humanity is a convergent series of individual ideals."
"The greatest theological tragedy occurs when faith is reduced to worship."
"Confusion is conserved. Ignorance is universally increasing."
"Cynicism is the sound of a man actively drowning himself."
"Anyone who claims the Age of Miracles is past has obviously never considered
the fact of humanity's continued existence."
"Life is the process of continually discovering that you don't really
have any idea what's going on."
"The human experience is simply a perpetual alternation between ignorance
and despair."
"Thank God that 40,000 years ago, no one ever ordered an environmental
impact study on fire. We would still be living in darkness and fear."
"Freedom must not, cannot, be selective. Either you support
everyone's rights equally or you support no one's at all. If you do
not stand against the tyrant, you stand with him."
"The good Bishop does not fear that I am losing my faith. He fears
that I am losing his."
"The professional philosopher is one of the great fictions of the West.
In every art there is truth -- and so, every artisan is a philosopher."
"Solitude is the mind's mirror."
"The basic dichotomy of human existence is not capitalism versus socialism,
or atheism versus religion, or even Good versus Evil. It is fragmentation
versus globalism."
"Generally people do not wish knowledge. They wish a carefully
constructed ignorance."