"The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much."

"Action is consolatory. It is the enemy of thought and the friend of flattering illusions."

"As to honor - you know - it's a very fine mediaeval inheritance which women never got hold of. It wasn't theirs."

"The sea has never been friendly to man. At most it has been the accomplice of human restlesness."

"The United States is the only power in history that became great by giving and not by taking. I think the crisis was when the United States had more money than ideas. Money doesn't produce money. Ideas produce money."

"In every society in human history, including the United States, those in power seek to imbue themselves with the attributes of religion and patriotism as a way of getting greater support for their policy and insulating themselves from any criticism."

"So foolish is the heart of man that he ever puts his hope in the future, learning nothing from his past errors and fancying that tomorrow must be better than today."

"I'll watch any show on the History Channel."