A philosopher of imposing stature doesn't think in a vacuum. Even his most abstract ideas are, to some extent, conditioned by what is or is not known in the time when he lives.

No one who achieves success does so without acknowledging the help of others. The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude.

The art of progress is to preserve order amid change and to preserve change amid order.

If a dog jumps into your lap, it is because he is fond of you; but if a cat does the same thing, it is because your lap is warmer.

There are no whole truths: All truths are half-truths.

Not ignorance, but ignorance of ignorance, is the death of knowledge.

Religion is the last refuge of human savagery.

Philosophy begins in wonder. And, at the end, when philosophic thought has done its best, the wonder remains.

...the self-satisfied dogmatism with which mankind at each period of its history cherishes the delusion of the finality of existing modes of knowledge.

Knowledge shrinks as wisdom grows.

Symbolism is no mere idle fancy or corrupt degeneration: it is inherent in the very texture of human life.

For Heidegger, boredom is a privileged fundamental mood because it leads us directly into the very problem complex of being and time.

Peace may be hard to achieve, but is possible with small yet essential steps that are guided by courage and sufficient commitment.

One day I'm going to write a book about osprey. It has really gotten deep into my bloodstream. So when you ask what else I do, I feel like this is part of what I do....is to watch these birds.

What is inconceivable about the universe is that it is at all conceivable.

A change in language can transform our appreciation of the cosmos.

Writing a novel is not method acting and I find it easy to step out of it at cocktail hour.

Marrying a woman for her beauty makes no more sense than eating a bird for its singing. But it's a common mistake nonetheless.

To some of us, hunger was more academic than real, but we must try to develop the ability to feel the urgency of such a situation.

I object to you using words like squander and pork. What is pork in one part of the country is an essential project in another part.

Scientifically, happiness is a choice. It is a choice about where your single processor brain will devote its finite resources as you process the world.