George Santayana

“A man's feet should be planted in his country, but his eyes should survey the world.”

“The hunger for facile wisdom is the root of all false philosophy.”

“The family is one of nature's masterpieces.”

“Fanaticism consists of redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim.”

“Life is not a spectacle or a feast; it is a predicament.”

“The spirit's foe in man has not been simplicity, but sophistication.”

“Oaths are the fossils of piety.”

“In Greece wise men speak and fools decide.”

“To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.”

“Many possessions, if they do not make a man better, are at least expected to make his children happier; and this pathetic hope is behind many exertions.”

“The highest form of vanity is love of fame.”

“Fashion is something barbarous, for it produces innovation without reason and imitation without benefit.”

“The primary use of conversation is to satisfy the impulse to talk.”

“The more rational an institution is the less it suffers by making concessions to others.”

“The body is an instrument, the mind its function, the witness and reward of its operation.”

“The passions grafted on wounded pride are the most inveterate; they are green and vigorous in old age.”

“America is a young country with an old mentality.”

“All thought is naught but a footnote to Plato.”

“Nonsense is so good only because common sense is so limited.”

“The young man who has not wept is a savage, and the older man who will not laugh is a fool.”