Source: (1776), Book I, Chapter XI, Part III, (Conclusion..) p. 282.
Source: (1776), Book III, Chapter IV, p. 448.
"Hereditary Talent and Character" in MacMillan's Magazine Vol. XII (May - October 1865), p. 326.
Other works
Context: One of the effects of civilization is to diminish the rigour of the application of the law of natural selection. It preserves weakly lives that would have perished in barbarous lands.
Source: The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation (1821) (Third Edition), Chapter V, On Wages, p. 52
Source: The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation (1821) (Third Edition), Chapter II, On Rent, p. 41
“Almost all men improve on acquaintance.”
Un Art de Vivre (The Art of Living) (1939), The Art of Friendship
“After all, is not a real Hell better than a manufactured Heaven?”
Source: Maurice
Source: (1776), Book I, Chapter VII, p. 69.
Interview in The Hindu (2013)
Context: The improved understanding of the equations of hydrodynamics is general in nature; it applies to all quantum field theories, including those like quantum chromodynamics that are of interest to real world experiments. I think this is a good (though minor) example of the impact of string theory on experiments. At our current stage of understanding of string theory, we can effectively do calculations only in particularly simple — particularly symmetric — theories. But we are able to analyse these theories very completely; do the calculations completely correctly. We can then use these calculations to test various general predictions about the behaviour of all quantum field theories. These expectations sometimes turn out to be incorrect. With the string calculations to guide you can then correct these predictions. The corrected general expectations then apply to all quantum field theories, not just those very symmetric ones that string theory is able to analyse in detail.
“One certain effect of war is to diminish freedom of expression.”
Howard Zinn on War (2000), Ch. 21: Just and Unjust War http://co.quaker.org/Writings/JustAndUnjustWar.htm
Context: One certain effect of war is to diminish freedom of expression. Patriotism becomes the order of the day, and those who question the war are seen as traitors, to be silenced and imprisoned.
acting alone, acting in groups, acting in the United Nations, for plague and pestilence, and plunder and pollution, the hazards of nature, and the hunger of children are the foes of every nation. The earth, the sea, and the air are the concern of every nation. And science, technology, and education can be the ally of every nation. Never before has man had such capacity to control his own environment, to end thirst and hunger, to conquer poverty and disease, to banish illiteracy and massive human misery. We have the power to make this the best generation of mankind in the history of the world — or to make it the last.
1963, UN speech
