Moore, George Edward

"The true secret of giving advice is, after you have honestly given it, to be perfectly indifferent whether it is taken or not, and never persist in trying to set people right."

"Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric."

"The point of philosophy is to start with something so simple as not to seem worth stating, and to end with something so paradoxical that no one will believe it."

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen."

"The questions which one asks oneself begin, at least, to illuminate the world, and so one begins to live."

"To be entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise."

"Facts are better than dreams."

"The primary source of the development of civilization is the existence of stationary states; of such states to be stationary is necessary to the process of civilization."

"Either philosophy is practical, or else it is nonsense."

"Beauty is a higher power than beauty."

"A refusal to make a decision is in itself a decision."

"The moment we cease to hold each other, the moment we break faith with one another, justice will only be a dream."

"We are dying from civilization and its discontents."

"The demand for certainty is one which is natural to science, but which it is scarcely honorable to science to demand."

"It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end."

"If all the world were Christian, it might be so ordered."

"The power of thought is in its subtlety."

"No human being is strictly necessary to any other human being."

"Labor as you would for your sustenance, for the laborer is worthy of his hire."

"The desire for beauty is only to be satisfied by getting a measure of reality."

"The true spirit of delight, the exaltation, the sense of being more than Man, is the touchstone of the highest excellence."

"Trust in God, but tie your camel."

"In the affairs of this life, it is extremely difficult to distinguish between talent and hard work."

"Organic unity is the highest aesthetic quality."

"The man who admits he is tired of the present world is indicating a preference for a new world."

"Civilization is not inherited; it has to be learned and earned by each generation anew."

"Common sense is in spite of, not as the result of, education."

"The highest reason is always to believe in the highest; to try to realize it; to make it actual."

"To be able to enjoy one's past life is to live twice."

"The progress of the world depends on the kind of men we choose to follow."