But I would still reply, that the knavery and folly of men are such common phenomena, that I should rather believe the most extraordinary events to arise from their concurrence, than admit of so signal a violation of the laws of nature.
Human - Humanity Quotes
One of the greatest pains to human nature is the pain of a new idea.
Men have lost sight of distant horizons. Nobody writes for humanity, for civilization; they write for their country, their sect; to amuse their friends or annoy their enemies.
I use the word “Humanist” to mean someone who believes that man is just as much a natural phenomenon as an animal or a plant; that his body, mind or soul were not supernaturally created but are products of evolution, and that he is not under the control or guidance of any supernatural being, but […]
Drinking when we are not thirsty and making love all year round, madam; that is all there is to distinguish us from other animals.
I do not believe in immortality of the individual, and I consider ethics to be an exclusively human concern with no superhuman authority behind it.
Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted.
Against human nature one cannot legislate. One can only try to educate it, and it is a slow process with only a distant hope of success.
The individual needs to be in constant struggle with his environment if he is to develop to his highest capacity. The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which he has attained liberation from the self.
Single-mindedness is all very well in cows or baboons; in an animal claiming to belong to the same species as Shakespeare it is simply disgraceful.
