No man will be found in whose mind airy notions do not sometimes tyrannize, and force him to hope or fear beyond the limits of sober probability. – Samuel Johnson
The human understanding is like a false mirror, which, receiving rays irregularly, distorts and discolors the nature of things by mingling its own nature with it. – Francis Bacon
One might speak to great length of the three corners of reality what was seen, what was thought to be seen, and what was thought ought to be seen. – Marvel Bell
In making the great experiment of governing people by consent rather than by coercion, it is not sufficient that the party in power should have a majority. It is just as necessary that the party in power should never outrage the minority. – Walter Lippmann
To know what you prefer, instead of humbly saying “Amen” to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to keep your soul alive. – Robert Louis Stevenson