“For many people, an excuse is better than an achievement because an achievement, no matter how great, leaves you having to prove yourself again in the future; but an excuse can last for life.”

The future belongs to the learners-not the knowers.

Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life.

Rudeness is the weak man’s limitation of strength.

Nothing comes easily. My work smells of sweat.

Should Americans begin to hate foreigners wholeheartedly, it will be an indication that they have lost confidence in their own way of life.

The beginning of thought is in disagreement – not only with others but also with ourselves.

Where freedom is real, equality is the passion of the masses. Where equality is real, freedom is the passion of a small minority.

One of the chief differences between an adult and a juvenile is that the adult knows when he is an ass while the juvenile never does.

We see through others only when we see through ourselves.

The savior who wants to turn men into angels is as much a hater of human nature as the totalitarian despot who wants to turn them into puppets.

Up to now, America has not been a good milieu for the rise of a mass movement. What starts out here as a mass movement ends up as a racket, a cult, or a corporation.

One of the surprising privileges of intellectuals is that they are free to be scandalously asinine without harming their reputations.

People who bite the hand that feeds them usually lick the boot that kicks them.

What monstrosities would walk the streets were some people’s faces as unfinished as their minds.

We can be absolutely certain only about things we do not understand.

Faith in a holy cause is to a considerable extent a substitute for lost faith in ourselves.