Society and the World

It is not the business of science to inherit the earth, but to inherit the moral imagination; because without that, man and beliefs and science will perish together.

It is not the business of science to inherit the earth, but to inherit the moral imagination; because without that, man and beliefs and science will perish together.

It is not the business of science to inherit the earth, but to inherit the moral imagination; because without that, man and beliefs and science will perish together.

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.

I like to have a man’s knowledge comprehend more than one class of topics, one row of shelves. I like a man who likes to see a fine barn as well as a good tragedy.

If most of us are ashamed of shabby clothes and shoddy furniture, let us be more ashamed of shabby ideas and shoddy philosophies.

If most of us are ashamed of shabby clothes and shoddy furniture, let us be more ashamed of shabby ideas and shoddy philosophies.

The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.

Thought is action in rehearsal.

A cup is useful only when it is empty; and a mind that is filled with beliefs, with dogmas, with assertions, with quotations is really an uncreative mind.

Serving God is doing good to man. But praying is thought an easier service and is therefore more generally chosen.

People generally quarrel because they cannot argue.

Quarrels would not last long if the fault were on one side only.

Praise, like gold and diamonds, owes its value only to its scarcity.

The thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never any good to oneself.

A public-opinion poll is no substitute for thought.

Even when the experts all agree, they may well be mistaken.

A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while he knows something.

There is always hope when people are forced to listen to both sides.

Give every man thy ear but few thy voice.

Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after.

In order that all men may be taught to speak truth, it is necessary that all likewise should learn to hear it.

Say what you have to say, not what you ought.

He who does not know foreign languages does not know anything about his own.