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.

The theoretical understanding of the world, which is the aim of philosophy, is not a matter of great practical importance to animals, or to savages, or even to most civilised men.

Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, Thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habit. Thought is great and swift and free.

To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness.

Anything you're good at contributes to happiness.

Man needs, for his happiness, not only the enjoyment of this or that, but hope and enterprise and change.

The secret of happiness is this: let your interests be as wide as possible, and let your reactions to the things and persons that interest you be as far as possible friendly rather than hostile.

The secret to happiness is to face the fact that the world is horrible.

I've made an odd discovery. Every time I talk to a savant I feel quite sure that happiness is no longer a possibility. Yet when I talk with my gardener, I'm convinced of the opposite.

Contempt for happiness is usually contempt for other people's happiness, and is an elegant disguise for hatred of the human race.