Nothing ought to be said or done which could create the impression that unbiased reconsideration of the most elementary premises of philosophy is a merely academic or historical affair.

One cannot refute what one has not thoroughly understood.

The silence of a wise man is always meaningful.

Education to perfect gentlemanship, to human excellence, liberal education consists in reminding oneself of human excellence, of human greatness.

Life is too short to live with any but the greatest books.

For try as one may to expel nature with a hayfork, it will always come back.

If the highest things are unknowable, then the highest capacity or virtue of man cannot be theoretical wisdom.

Liberal education reminds those members of a mass democracy who have ears to hear, of human greatness.

It is as absurd to expect members of philosophy departments to be philosophers as it is to expect members of art departments to be artists.

The contemporary rejection of natural right leads to nihilism - nay, it is identical with nihilism.

Philosophizing means, then, to ascend from public dogma to essentially private knowledge.

One way to reduce crime and save lives is to target criminals who use guns with tough mandatory minimums.

As a rule they will refuse even to sample a foreign dish, they regard such things as garlic and olive oil with disgust, life is unliveable to them unless they have tea and puddings.

Conceptually, we may call truth what we cannot change; metaphorically, it is the ground on which we stand and the sky that stretches above us.

Unconsciousness, spontaneity, instinct ... hold us to the earth and dictate the relatively good and useful.

Science always uses metaphor.

Therefore the stiff and unbending is the disciple of death. The gentle and yielding is the disciple of life.

You can't avoid pain in life. It's how you handle pain, that's what defines you.

The world needs change, change needs an activity. It has to be planted by a thought.

Dreams are not easy. Dreams are painful. They force work and commitment. They are challenging and motivating.

Love between strangers takes only a few seconds and can last a whole life.