What we call "morals" is simply blind obedience to words of command.

The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously.

The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking.

It is good to vary in order that you may frustrate the curious, especially those who envy you. - The Oracle.

Try to find your deepest issue in every confusion, and abide by that. - Selected Essays.

I am convinced that the majority of people would be generous from selfish motives, if they had the opportunity. - My Summer in a Garden.

Th' newspaper does ivrything f'r us. It runs th' polis foorce an' th' banks, commands th' milishy, controls th'ligislachure, baptizes th' young, marries th' foolish, comforts th' afflicted, afflicts th' comfortable, buries th' dead an' roasts thim aftherward. - "Mr. Dooley's Opinions", 1900.

The window to the world can be covered by a newspaper. - Unkempt Thoughts, 1962.

The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.

As I make my slow pilgrimage through the world, a certain sense of beautiful mystery seems to gather and grow. - From a College Window.

The mysterious is always attractive. People will always follow a vail. - The House of Gold.

All men love peace in their armchairs after dinner; but they disbelieve the other nations's professions, rightly measuring its sincerity by their own. - Oscar Firkins: Memoirs and Letters.

Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice.

To what extent is any given man morally responsible for any given act? We do not know. - Reflections on Life.

A long and wicked life followed by five minutes of perfect grace gets you into Heaven. An equally long life of decent living and good works followed by one outburst of taking the name of the Lord in vain—then have a heart attack at that moment and be damned for eternity. Is that the system?

It is an old habit with theologians to beat the living with the bones of the dead.

In life, as in chess, forethought wins.

I do not read advertisements. I would spend all of my time wanting things.

You can tell the ideals of a nation by its advertisements.

Applause is the spur of noble minds, the end and aim of weak ones.