We must not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we began and to know the place for the first time.

It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question. Decadence begins when questions are suppressed and we are left only with the comfort of old replies.

The surface of the Earth is the shore of the cosmic ocean. On this shore, we have learned most of what we know. Recently, we have waded a little out to sea, enough to dampen our toes or, at most, wet our ankles. The water seems inviting. The ocean calls.

The mind is furnished with a set of instincts which seek out certain kinds of phenomena and ask for explanations of certain kinds of things. Any answer to a question which does not ask or explain the right kind of thing will be philosophically frustrated and dull.

The mind is furnished with a set of instincts which seek out certain kinds of phenomena and are angered by their absence and impatient of delay in their arrival. It is the absence of the phenomena, not their presence, which is the true cause of the intellectual excitement we feel.

The true function of philosophy is not to provide final answers, but to keep alive in us the sense of wonder at the world and our place in it.

The best thing you can do is to get really good at something that is valuable to the market. And the way to get really good at something is to practice it obsessively, but you have to pick something that you have genuine curiosity about.