“The imagination of the genius vastly surpasses his intellect; the intellect of the academic vastly surpasses his imagination”

“The rationalist imagines an imbecile-free society; the empiricist and imbecile-proof one, or even better, a rationalist-proof one.”

“Just as no monkey is as good-looking as the ugliest of humans, no academic is worthier than the worst of the creators”

“The four most influential moderns: Darwin, Marx, Freud, and (the productive) Einstein were scholars but not academics. It has always been hard to do genuine - and no perishable - work within institutions”

“If you want to annoy a poet, explain his poetry.”

“If you hear a "prominent" economist using the word 'equilibrium,' or 'normal distribution,' do not argue with him; just ignore him, or try to put a rat down his shirt.”

“Never ask a man if he is from Sparta: If he were, he would have let you know such an important fact - and if he were not, you could hurt his feelings.”