“It is a waste of energy to be angry with a man who behaves badly, just as it is to be angry with a car that won’t go.”

And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that he would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt his existence.

The secret of happiness is to face the fact that the world is horrible, horrible, horrible.

No one gossips about other people’s secret virtues.

The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.

Is there any knowledge in the world that is so certain that no reasonable man could doubt it?

Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind.

Fear is the parent of cruelty, and therefore it is no wonder if cruelty and religion have gone hand in hand.

It has been said that man is a rational animal. All my life I have been searching for evidence that could support this.

Anything you’re good at contributes to happiness.

We love our habits more than our income, often more than our life.

Sin is geographical.

The good life is inspired by love and guided by knowledge.

Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth but supreme beauty – a beauty cold and austere.

Extreme hopes are born from extreme misery.

Science may set limits to knowledge, but should not set limits to imagination.

Machines have altered our way of life, but not our instincts. Consequently, there is maladjustment.