424 quotes
Often and often, a marriage hardly differs from prostitution except by being harder to escape from.
Proposed Roads To Freedom (1918)
Brief and powerless is Man's life; on him and all his race the slow, sure doom falls pitiless and dark.
A Free Man's Worship (1903)
My whole religion is this: do every duty, and expect no reward for it, either here or hereafter.
Greek Exercises (1888)
Every man would like to be God, if it were possible; some few find it difficult to admit the impossibility.
Power: A New Social Analysis (1938)
Ethics is in origin the art of recommending to others the sacrifices required for co-operation with oneself.
Mysticism and Logic and Other Essays (1918)
Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness.
The Conquest of Happiness (1930)
Both in thought and in feeling, even though time be real, to realise the unimportance of time is the gate of wisdom.
Our Knowledge of the External World (1914)
To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead.
Marriage and Morals (1929)
Mystery is delightful, but unscientific, since it depends upon ignorance.
The Analysis of Mind (1921)
The place of the father in the modern suburban family is a very small one – particularly if he plays golf, which he usually does.
Introduction to The New Generation (1930)
The only thing that will redeem mankind is co-operation, and the first step towards co-operation lies in the hearts of individuals.
Human Society in Ethics and Politics (1954)
Men are born ignorant, not stupid; they are made stupid by education.
The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.
What I Believe (1925)
I should say that the universe is just there, and that is all.
There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge.
In Praise of Idleness and Other Essays (1935)
The above proposition is occasionally useful.
We all have a tendency to think that the world must conform to our prejudices. The opposite view involves some effort of thought, and most people would die sooner than think – in fact they do so.
The ABC of Relativity (1925)
I think modern educational theorists are inclined to attach too much importance to the negative virtue of not interfering with children, and too little to the positive merit of enjoying their company.
In Praise of Idleness and Other Essays (1935)
When people begin to philosophize they seem to think it necessary to make themselves artificially stupid.
Theory of Knowledge (1913)
To acquire immunity to eloquence is of the utmost importance to the citizens of a democracy.
Power: A New Social Analysis (1938)