Few Things Have Done More Harm Than

Only Barbarians Are Not Curious About Where They Come From, How They Came To Be Where They Are, Where They Appear To Be Going, Whether They Wish To Go There, And If So, Why, And If Not, Why Not.

If, As I Believe, The Ends Of Men Are Many, And Not All Of Them Are In Principle Compatible With Each Other, Then The Possibility Of Conflict - And Of Tragedy - Can Never Wholly Be Eliminated From Human Life, Either Personal Or Social. The Necessity Of Choosing Between Absolute Claims Is Then An Inescapable Characteristic Of The Human Condition. This Gives Its Value To Freedom As Acton Conceived Of It - As An End In Itself, And Not As A Temporary Need, Arising Out Of Our Confused Notions And Irrational And Disordered Lives, A Predicament Which A Panacea Could One Day Put Right.

Philosophers Are Adults Who Persist In Asking Childish Questions.

The Fundamental Sense Of Freedom Is Freedom From Chains, From Imprisonment, From Enslavement By Others. The Rest Is Extension Of This Sense, Or Else Metaphor.

Liberty And Equality, Spontaneity And Security, Happiness And Knowledge, Mercy And Justice - All These Are Ultimate Human Values, Sought For Themselves Alone; Yet When They Are Incompatible, They Cannot All Be Attained, Choices Must Be Made, Sometimes Tragic Losses Accepted In The Pursuit Of Some Preferred Ultimate End.