Bernard Williams
The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day he created Spring.Collection: Hope
There was never a night or a problem that could defeat sunrise or hope.Collection: Morning
There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.Collection: Pet
The people I really do dislike are the morally unimaginative kind of evolutionary reductionists who, in the name of science, think they can explain everything in terms of our early hominid ancestors or our genes, with their combination of high-handed tone and disregard for history. Such reductive speculation encourages a really empty scientism.Collection: Science
What a strange world this would be if we all had the same sense of humor.Collection: Humor
Women have a favorite room, men a favorite chair.Collection: Women
Talent is a flame. Genius is a fire.Collection: Brainy
We may pass violets looking for roses. We may pass contentment looking for victory.Collection: Brainy
Man never made any material as resilient as the human spirit.Collection: Inspirational
Books had instant replay long before televised sports.Collection: Sports
If a June night could talk, it would probably boast it invented romance.Collection: Romantic
People have been predicting the death of philosophy since the 17th century. When I was a student, people were saying, 'We're in the last days of philosophy.' Then we were told in the '60s it would be replaced by sociology, then by literary criticism.Collection: Death
People who say, 'Let the chips fall where they may,' usually figure they will not be hit by a chip.
I like the word 'indolence'. It makes my laziness seem classy.
We grow a little every time we do not take advantage of somebody's weakness.
If there's one theme in all my work, it's about authenticity and self-expression. It's the idea that some things are, in some real sense, really you - or express what you and others aren't.
An extravagance is something that your spirit thinks is a necessity.
Disagreement does not necessarily have to be overcome. It may remain an important and constitutive feature of our relations to others and also be seen as something that is merely to be expected in the light of the best explanations we have of how such disagreement arises.
Philosophy is altogether less pure now. It's been impurified by science and social science and history.
Contemporary moral philosophy has found an original way of being boring, which is by not discussing moral issues at all.
'Humanity' is a name not merely for a species but also for a quality.
Virtually the only subject in which one could ever get a scholarship to Oxford or Cambridge was classics. So I went to Oxford to study classics and, unlike Cambridge, it had a philosophy component, and I became completely transported by it.
A friend is a lot of things, but a critic isn't.
Tragedy is formed 'round ideas it does not expound, and to understand its history is, in some part, to understand those ideas and their place in the society that produced it.
Life is supposed to be a series of peaks and valleys. The secret is to keep the valleys from becoming Grand Canyons.
The truth is that we all have to do more things than we can rightly do, if we are to do anything at all.
People who express themselves in paradoxes are in a strong position; and the more outrageous the paradox, in general the stronger the position.
Few things are as democratic as a snowstorm.
I was interested in philosophy before I knew I was. That's to say, when I was at school, I used to argue with my friends about issues that turned out to be philosophical ones of some kind.
A half-truth is usually less than half of that.
I was attracted to opera when I was 15 or 16. A very rich man in England bankrupted himself to put on a lot of opera during the war, but he converted a lot of people, myself included, in the process.
The majority of philosophers are totally humorless. That's part of their trouble.
If we try and fail, we have temporary disappointments. But if we do not try at all, we have permanent regrets.Collection: Disappointment
It is almost impossible to watch a sunset and not dream.Collection: Dream
Unsolicited advice is the junk mail of life.Collection: Advice
We must escape our illusions of correctness to understand the actions and beliefs of others.Collection: Belief
I like the word "indolence." It makes my laziness seem classy.Collection: Humorous
Few things move as quietly as the future.Collection: Life
Sooner or later we all quote our mothers.Collection: Leadership
This is the end of the day, but soon there will be a new day.Collection: Good Night
Tranquility is like quicksilver. The harder you grab for it, the less likely you will grasp it.Collection: Tranquility
The average man will bristle if you say his father was dishonest, but he will brag a little if he discovers that his great-grandfather was a Pirate.Collection: Father
No symphony orchestra ever played music like a two-year-old girl laughing with a puppy.Collection: Family
September tries its best to have us forget summer.Collection: Summer
You are mature when you know what is foolhardy and what is courage.Collection: Mature
Laziness has many disguises. Soon "winter doldrums" will become "spring fever."Collection: Spring
Americans are optimists. They hope they'll be wealthy someday - and they're positive they can get one more brushful of paint out of an empty can.Collection: Optimistic
Ideas are like wandering sons. They show up when you least expect them.Collection: Inspiration