“You don’t have to be able to lay eggs to know when one of them is rotten.”

I wish that I could say I was optimistic about the human race. I love us all, but we are so stupid and shortsighted that I wonder if we can lift our eyes to the world about us long enough not to commit suicide.

At odd and unpredictable times, we cling in fright to the past .

People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.

Intelligence is an accident of evolution, and not necessarily an advantage.

It is well-known that the friend of a conqueror is but the last victim.

Old people think young people haven’t learned about love. Young people think old people have forgotten about love.

Democracy cannot survive overpopulation. Human dignity cannot survive it. Convenience and decency cannot survive it. As you put more and more people into the world, the value of life not only declines, but it disappears. It doesn’t matter if someone dies.

The true delight is in the finding out rather than in the knowing.

To make discoveries, you have to be curious about why the universe is the way it is.

It has been my philosophy of life that difficulties vanish when faced boldly.

People think of education as something that they can finish.

The day you stop learning is the day you begin decaying.

You don’t need to predict the future. Just choose a future – a good future, a useful future – and make the kind of prediction that will alter human emotions and reactions in such a way that the future you predicted will be brought about.

The first law of dietetics seems to be: if it tastes good, it’s bad for you.

There seems to be a feeling that anything that is natural is good. Strychnine is natural.

The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!’ but ‘That’s funny.’

Surround yourself with people who add the fuel of advice and encouragement to your fire.

Strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter.

The best advice I can give you is to ask yourself what do you want, then ask ‘what is true’ – and then ask yourself ‘what should be done about it.’ I believe that if you do this you will move much faster towards what you want to get out of life than if you don’t!

Speak in extremes, it’ll save you time.

The average call me obsessed, the successful call me for advice.

When I started taking my own advice, I knew I was healing.

Contentment is both the fruit and the tree.

You cannot pour more water into a full cup without causing a spillage.