“A belief in hell and the knowledge that every ambition is doomed to frustration at the hands of a skeleton have never prevented the majority of human beings from behaving as though death were no more than an unfounded rumor.”
Death“We are all geniuses up to the age of ten.”
Age“A belief in hell and the knowledge that every ambition is doomed to frustration at the hands of a skeleton have never prevented the majority of human beings from behaving as though death were no more than an unfounded rumor.”
Death“Hell isn't merely paved with good intentions it's walled and roofed with them. Yes, and furnished too.”
Good“The most shocking fact about war is that its victims and its instruments are individual human beings, and that these individual beings are condemned by the monstrous conventions of politics to murder or be murdered in quarrels not their own.”
Politics“That all men are equal is a proposition to which, at ordinary times, no sane human being has ever given his assent.”
Men“Thought must be divided against itself before it can come to any knowledge of itself.”
Knowledge“All gods are homemade, and it is we who pull their strings, and so, give them the power to pull ours.”
Power“Happiness is a hard master, particularly other people's happiness.”
Happiness“Your true traveller finds boredom rather agreeable than painful. It is the symbol of his liberty - his excessive freedom. He accepts his boredom, when it comes, not merely philosophically, but almost with pleasure.”
Freedom“You should hurry up and acquire the cigar habit. It's one of the major happinesses. And so much more lasting than love, so much less costly in emotional wear and tear.”
Love“We are all geniuses up to the age of ten.”
Age“Like every man of sense and good feeling, I abominate work.”
Good“One of the great attractions of patriotism - it fulfills our worst wishes. In the person of our nation we are able, vicariously, to bully and cheat. Bully and cheat, what's more, with a feeling that we are profoundly virtuous.”
Great“Perhaps it's good for one to suffer. Can an artist do anything if he's happy? Would he ever want to do anything? What is art, after all, but a protest against the horrible inclemency of life?”
Art“An unexciting truth may be eclipsed by a thrilling lie.”
Truth“Words, words, words! They shut one off from the universe. Three quarters of the time one's never in contact with things, only with the beastly words that stand for them.”
Time“There's only one effectively redemptive sacrifice, the sacrifice of self-will to make room for the knowledge of God.”
God“The finest works of art are precious, among other reasons, because they make it possible for us to know, if only imperfectly and for a little while, what it actually feels like to think subtly and feel nobly.”
Art“People intoxicate themselves with work so they won't see how they really are.”
Work“Children are remarkable for their intelligence and ardor, for their curiosity, their intolerance of shams, the clarity and ruthlessness of their vision.”
Intelligence“The most valuable of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it has to be done, whether you like it or not.”
Education