True scientific discovery renders the brain incapable at such moments of shouting vigorously to the world “Look at what I’ve done! Now I will reap the benefits of recognition and wealth.” Instead such discovery instinctively forces the brain to thunder “We did it” in a voice no one else can hear, within its sacred, but lonely, chapel of scientific thought

We detect rather than invent our missions in life

Knowing a great deal is not the same as being smart; intelligence is not information alone but also judgement, the manner in which information is coordinated and used

Light reading (by this, I mean books of little importance) may amuse me for the moment, but leaves nothing solid behind

It is not in numbers but in unity that our great strength lies

Clearly one must read every good book at least once every ten years

Success or not, a conscious person is always steady in his/her determination

The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well

Quick decipherment is very important to avoid the systematic errors which invariably arise from prolonged reflection

Hunger and love are what move the world

Once someone has reached the point of accepting uncritically all the absurdities presented by religious doctrines, and even of overlooking their mutual contractions, the intellectual weakness of such a person should not greatly surprise us

We cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individual. Toward this end, each of us must work towards his/her own highest development, accepting at the same time his/her share of responsibility in the general life of humanity

There is no practice more dangerous than borrowing money

Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil

The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct them to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently

The duty of the man who investigates the writings of scientists—if learning the truth is his goal—is to make himself an enemy of all that he reads...and attack it from every side. He should also suspect of himself, as he performs this critical examination, to avoid falling into either prejudice or careless thinking

I not only use all the brains that I have, but all that I can borrow

Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise

Fortune favors the prepared mind

It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled

Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid

Renunciation of objects, without the renunciation of desires, is shortlived, however hard you may try

It is only when one sees one’s own mistakes with a convex lens, and does just the reverse in the case of others, that one is able to arrive at a just relative estimate of the two

It is morally as bad not to care whether a thing is true or not, so long as it makes you feel good, as it is not to care how you got your money so long as you've got it

A society that will trade a little liberty for a little order will lose both, and deserve neither

For small creatures such as we, the vastness is bearable only through love

When fear is overcome, curiosity and constructiveness are free, and [a hu]man passes by natural impulse towards the understanding and embellishment of life

Everyone has to sacrifice at the altar of stupidity from time to time

Freedom for the wolves has often meant death to the sheep