“The general tendency of things throughout the world is to render mediocrity the ascendant power among mankind.”

Next to selfishness the principal cause which makes life unsatisfactory is want of mental cultivation.

A man and still more the woman, who can be accused either of doing “what nobody does,” or of not doing “what everybody does,” is the subject of as much depreciatory remark as if he or she had committed some grave moral delinquency.

There is an imaginary circle drawn around every human being, over which no government should be able to step.

Ask yourself whether you are happy, and you cease to be so.

There is the greatest difference between presuming an opinion to be true, because, with every opportunity for contesting it, it has not been refuted, and assuming its truth for the purpose of not permitting its refutation.

There is one plain rule of life. Try thyself unweariedly till thou findest the highest thing thou art capable of doing, faculties and outward circumstances being both duly considered, and then do it.

He who lets the world choose his plan of life for him has need of no other faculty than that of ape-like imitation.

The struggle between Liberty and Authority is the most conspicuous feature in the portions of history with which we are earliest familiar; particularly in that of Greece, Rome, and England

The study of science teaches young men to think, while study of the classics teaches them to express thought.

The pupil who is never required to do what he cannot do, never does what he can do.

The most cogent reason for restricting the interference of government is the great evil of adding unnecessarily to its power.

Since the general or prevailing opinion on any subject is rarely or never the whole truth, it is only by the collision of adverse opinion that the remainder of the truth has any chance of being supplied.

The object of universities is not to make skillful lawyers, physicians or engineers. It is to make capable and cultivated human beings.

No slave is a slave to the same lengths, and in so full a sense of the word, as a wife is.

All silencing of discussion is an assumption of infallibility.

Liberty lies in the rights of that person whose views you find most odious.

I don’t have very complete scripts for my films. I have a general outline and a character in my mind, and I make no notes until I find the character who’s in my mind in reality.

Any general statement is like a check drawn on a bank. Its value depends on what is there to meet it.

Paki- bashing was kind of this term that was used in general to beat up anyone that was from the Indian subcontinent.

Tycho, we’re about to achieve a tremendous victory we don’t want.” “We’ll put that in your biography. General Antilles was so good he couldn’t fail when he tried to.” “Thanks.” Wedge & Tycho

Each day was a challenge of enjoyment, and he [Hemingway] would plan it out as a field general plans a campign.

The trouble with music appreciation in general is that people are taught to have too much respect for music they should be taught to love it instead.

As touching peaches in general, the very name in Latine whereby they are called Persica, doth evidently show that they were brought out of Persia first.

Generally speaking anybody is more interesting doing nothing than doing anything.