“The reader often shares the writer's prejudices, and is far too well pleased with his conclusions to examine either his premises or his reasoning.”

A sharp description of how agreement can suppress critical scrutiny · Lecture, The Application of Thought to Textual Criticism, 1921

• Criticism
• Reason
• Understanding

“The old unscientific days are everlasting; they are here and now.”

Warning that intellectual fashions do not eliminate perennial human errors · Lecture, The Application of Thought to Textual Criticism, 1921

• Criticism
• History
• Humanity

“Existence is not itself a good thing, that we should spend a lifetime securing its necessaries.”

Distinguishing the preservation of life from the purposes that make life worthwhile · Introductory Lecture, University College London, 1892

• Happiness
• Life
• Wisdom