“It seems to me fundamental dishonesty, and a fundamental treachery to intellectual integrity to hold a belief because you think it’s useful and not because you think it’s true.”

It is the preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly.

Love is wise, hatred is foolish.

What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite.

To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness.

Do not feel envious of the happiness of those who live in a fool’s paradise, for only a fool will think that it is happiness.

Politics is largely governed by sententious platitudes which are devoid of truth.

Love can flourish only as long as it is free and spontaneous; it tends to be killed by the thought of duty. To say that it is your duty to love so-and-so is the surest way to cause you to hate him of her.

A man is rational in proportion as his intelligence informs and controls his desires.

Nothing is so exhausting as indecision, and nothing is so futile.

None of our beliefs are quite true; all have at least a penumbra of vagueness and error.

Language serves not only to express thought but to make possible thoughts that could not exist without it.

The secret of happiness is very simple: let your interests be as wide as possible, and let your reactions to the things and persons that interest you be as far as possible friendly rather than hostile.

One must care about a world one will not see.

To write a tragedy, a man must feel the tragedy. To feel tragedy, a man must be aware of the world in which he lives. Not only with his mind, but with his blood and sinews.

The demand for certainty is one that is natural to man but is nevertheless an intellectual vice.

The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn.

I do believe in self-help.

Religion is realization; not talk, nor doctrine, nor theories however beautiful they may be. It is being and becoming, not hearing, or acknowledging; it is the whole soul becoming what it believes.

Whether you like it or not, you’re forced to come to the realisation that death is out there. But I don’t fear death, I’m a fatalist. I believe when it’s your time, that’s it. It’s the hand you’re dealt.

Don’t ever forget two things I’m going to tell you. One, don’t believe everything that’s written about you. Two, don’t pick up too many checks.

Over the years, I realized there was a Republican philosophy that I liked. And then they lost it. And LIBERTARIANS had more of it. Because what I really believe is, let’s spend a little more time leaving everybody alone.

Be an atheist if you want, but do not believe in anything unquestioningly.

The past was great no doubt, but I sincerely believe that the future will be more glorious still.

I’ve always believed that a person is smart. It’s people that are stupid.