Great Throughts Treasury

"Evil unchecked grows, evil tolerated poisons the whole system."

"To be in good moral condition requires at least as much training as to be in good physical condition."

"We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open."

"Democracy and socialism are means to an end, not the end itself."

"Logic and cold reason are poor weapons to fight fear and distrust. Only faith and generosity can overcome them."

"Life is like a game of cards. The hand that is dealt you represents determinism; the way you play it is free will."

"Culture is the widening of the mind and of the spirit."

"I want nothing to do with any religion concerned with keeping the masses satisfied to live in hunger, filth and ignorance."

"Peace is not merely an absence of war. It is also a state of mind."

"The art of a people is a true mirror of their minds."

"The basic fact today is the tremendous pace of change in the human life."

"The policy of being too cautious is the greatest risk of all."

"The wheel of change moves on, and those who were down go up and those who were up go down."

"There is perhaps nothing so bad and so dangerous in life as fear."

"Blindness in a leader is unpardonable."

"Crises and deadlocks, when they occur, have at least this advantage: that they force us to think."

"In the name of religion many great and fine deeds have been performed. In the name of religion also, thousands and millions have been killed, and every possible crime has been committed."

"It is a fundamental rule of human life that, if the approach is good, the response is good."

"It is always more difficult to fight one’s own fallings than the power of an adversary."

"Those who are prepared to die for any cause are seldom defeated."

"Often in history we see that religion, which was meant to raise us and make us better and nobler, has made people behave like beasts. Instead of bringing enlightenment of them, it has often tried to keep them in the dark; instead of broadening their minds, it has frequently made the narrow-minded and intolerant of others."

"Peace is not a relationship of nations. It is a condition of mind brought about by a serenity of soul. Peace is not merely the absence of war. It is also a state of mind. Lasting peace can come only to peaceful people."

"It is strange that anyone should be so foolish as to think that religion and faith can be thrust down a person’s throat at the point of the sword or a bayonet."

"Restraint does not mean weakness. It does not mean giving in."

"Our chief defect is that we are more given to talking about things than to doing them."

"Slogans are apt to petrify man’s thinking… every slogan, every word almost, that is used by the socialist, the communist, the capitalist. People hardly think nowadays. They throw words at each other."

"Success often comes to those who dare and act; it seldom goes to the timid who are ever afraid of the consequences."

"The forces of capitalistic society, if left unchecked, tend to make the rich richer and the poor poorer."

"There is only one thing that remains to us, that cannot be taken away: to act with courage and dignity and to stick to the ideals that have given meaning to life."

"We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty and charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open. So many people seem to go about their life’s business with their eyes shut. Indeed, they object to other people keeping their eyes open. Unable to lay themselves, they dislike the play of others."

"Let us be a little humble; let us think that the truth may not perhaps be entirely with us."

"The only alternative to coexistence is co-destruction."

"A theory must be tempered with reality. "

"Time is not measured by the passing of years but by what one does, what one feels, and what one achieves. "

"Failure comes only when we forget our ideals and objectives and principles. "

"Action to be effective must be directed to clearly conceived ends. "

"Ignorance is always afraid of change. "

"What we really are matters more than what other people think of us. "