I have never found, in a long experience of politics, that criticism is ever inhibited by ignorance.

Man is a credulous animal, and must believe something; in the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones.

We have, in fact, two kinds of morality side by side: one which we preach but do not practice, and another which we practice but seldom preach.

Every man, wherever he goes, is encompassed by a cloud of comforting convictions, which move with him like flies on a summer day.

It is undesirable to believe a proposition when there is no ground whatsoever for supposing it is true.

Mathematics may be defined as the subject in which we never know what we are talking about, nor whether what we are saying is true.

To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead.

The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible.

Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness.

One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny, and is likely to interfere with happiness in all kinds of ways.