
The Future of Science (1959), p. 79; also in BBC The Listener, Vol. 61 (1959), p. 505
1950s
Source: 1950s, Human Society in Ethics and Politics (1954), p. 32
Context: If throughout your life you abstain from murder, theft, fornication, perjury, blasphemy, and disrespect toward your parents, your church, and your king, you are conventionally held to deserve moral admiration even if you have never done a single kind or generous or useful action. This very inadequate notion of virtue is an outcome of taboo morality, and has done untold harm.
The Future of Science (1959), p. 79; also in BBC The Listener, Vol. 61 (1959), p. 505
1950s
Nobel lecture (2001)
Context: The idea that there is one people in possession of the truth, one answer to the world’s ills, or one solution to humanity’s needs, has done untold harm throughout history — especially in the last century. Today, however, even amidst continuing ethnic conflict around the world, there is a growing understanding that human diversity is both the reality that makes dialogue necessary, and the very basis for that dialogue.
We understand, as never before, that each of us is fully worthy of the respect and dignity essential to our common humanity. We recognize that we are the products of many cultures, traditions and memories; that mutual respect allows us to study and learn from other cultures; and that we gain strength by combining the foreign with the familiar.
“The harm that I have not done, what harm it has done!”
El mal que no he hecho, ¡cuánto mal ha hecho!
Voces (1943)
Speech at the National Press Club (2004)
“Good government is the outcome of private virtue.”
Source: Practical Agitation (1900), Chapter 2
“The plow has probably done more harm — in the long run — than the sword.”
Source: A Voice Crying in the Wilderness (Vox Clamantis in Deserto) (1990), Ch. 11 : Money Et Cetera, p. 100
Source: Democracy and freedom. 1919, p. 44; Cited in: Wood & Wood (2004, 78).