The fundamental defect of fathers, in our competitive society, is that they want their children to be a credit to them. fatherhood & society
The place of the father in the modern suburban family is a very small one, particularly if he plays golf. fatherhood & family
Man is a credulous animal, and must believe something in the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones. being good
Much that passes as idealism is disguised hatred or disguised love of power. power
Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness. happiness
To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom. fear & wisdom
To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead. fear, life & love
Men who are unhappy, like men who sleep badly, are always proud of the fact. men
Anything you're good at contributes to happiness. being good & happiness
Admiration of the proletariat, like that of dams, power stations, and aeroplanes, is part of the ideology of the machine age. aging & power
Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd. fear
Boredom is... a vital problem for the moralist, since half the sins of mankind are caused by the fear of it. fear
Freedom in general may be defined as the absence of obstacles to the realization of desires. freedom
The world is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper. being funny
The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge. being good, knowledge, life & love
There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge. knowledge
I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong. being funny
The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time. time
War does not determine who is right - only who is left. war
The most savage controversies are about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way. being good
Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric. fear
The degree of one's emotions varies inversely with one's knowledge of the facts. knowledge
We are faced with the paradoxical fact that education has become one of the chief obstacles to intelligence and freedom of thought. education, freedom & intelligence
Freedom of opinion can only exist when the government thinks itself secure. freedom & government
A sense of duty is useful in work but offensive in personal relations. People wish to be liked, not to be endured with patient resignation. work
A happy life must be to a great extent a quiet life, for it is only in an atmosphere of quiet that true joy dare live. greatness
The infliction of cruelty with a good conscience is a delight to moralists. That is why they invented Hell. being good
Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom. fear & wisdom
Man needs, for his happiness, not only the enjoyment of this or that, but hope and enterprise and change. change, happiness & hope
Both in thought and in feeling, even though time be real, to realise the unimportance of time is the gate of wisdom. time & wisdom
Neither a man nor a crowd nor a nation can be trusted to act humanely or to think sanely under the influence of a great fear. fear & greatness
If all our happiness is bound up entirely in our personal circumstances it is difficult not to demand of life more than it has to give. happiness
Ethics is in origin the art of recommending to others the sacrifices required for cooperation with oneself. art
To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness. happiness
One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important. work
Contempt for happiness is usually contempt for other people's happiness, and is an elegant disguise for hatred of the human race. happiness
So far as I can remember, there is not one word in the Gospels in praise of intelligence. intelligence
Patriotism is the willingness to kill and be killed for trivial reasons. patriotism
The secret to happiness is to face the fact that the world is horrible. happiness
The fundamental concept in social science is Power, in the same sense in which Energy is the fundamental concept in physics. power & science
None but a coward dares to boast that he has never known fear. fear
Men are born ignorant, not stupid. They are made stupid by education. education & men
Patriots always talk of dying for their country and never of killing for their country. war
Science is what you know, philosophy is what you don't know. science
Religion is something left over from the infancy of our intelligence, it will fade away as we adopt reason and science as our guidelines. intelligence, religion & science