“Government can easily exist without laws, but law cannot exist without government.”

“Freedom of opinion can only exist when the government thinks itself secure.”

“Berkeley retains the merit of having shown that the existence of matter is capable of being denied without absurdity.”

“Language serves not only to express thought but to make possible thoughts which could not exist without it.”

“(on A History of Western Philosophy) I was sometimes accused by reviewers of writing not a true history but a biased account of the events that I arbitrarily chose to write of. But to my mind, a man without a bias cannot write interesting history - if, indeed, such man exists.”

“Politics is largely governed by sententious platitudes which are devoid of truth”

“One of the commonest things to do with savings is to lend them to some Government. In view of the fact that the bulk of the public expenditure of most civilized Governments consists in payment for past wars or preparation for future wars, the man who lends his money to a Government is in the same position as the bad men in Shakespeare who hire murderers. The net result of the man's economical habits is to increase the armed forces of the State to which he lends his savings. Obviously it would be better if he spent the money, even if he spent it in drink or gambling.”