We have all of our ideas at second hand, except the ones we think original, which we have at fourth or fifth.
Nov 022017
Erring
Error is boundless.
Nor hope nor doubt,
Though both be groundless,
Will average out.
—Cunningham
Oct 312017
Primitive irrationality is to refuse to refer actions and sentiments to abstract principle; decadent irrationality is to insist on it.
Oct 302017
Psychology begins by classifying people according to their conduct; then grows scientific, and deduces conduct from the classifications.
Oct 242017
Our idea that beliefs, in themselves, can make one virtuous — what is it but grace by faith?
Oct 232017
Ideology, n. A system of belief that leads to frumpiness.
Oct 182017
Philosophy is so well-trod that there is scarcely room for a new mistake.
Oct 032017
After an act of intellectual malpractice so egregious that nothing can excuse it, there is only one thing to say: “My point still stands.”
Sep 282017
It is easy to mistake the destruction of one’s world-view for the destruction of the world.
Sep 202017
There’s no harm in opinions, as long as you don’t believe them.
Sep 082017
The people who most need to be persuaded of their own stupidity have been told all their lives how clever they are.