The universe seems neither benign nor hostile, merely…

“The study of the galaxies reveals a universal order and beauty. It also shows us chaotic violence on a scale hitherto undreamed of. That…

— Carl Sagan

The universe is neither friendly nor hostile. It is merely indifferent. This makes me ecstatic.

— Sebastian Horsley

Men are by nature merely indifferent to one another; but women are by nature enemies.

— Arthur Schopenhauer

“We tell ourselves how lovely it would be, would it not, if there were a God who created the universe and benign Providence, a…

— Sigmund Freud

I think there is that very basic yearning for something or someone to be looking after us, for there to be a framework holding…

— Michel Faber

In England, the system is benign and the people are hostile. In America, the people are friendlyand the system is brutal!

— Quentin Crisp

The universe is not indifferent to intelligence, it is actively hostile to it. Love thy neighbor as yourself, but choose your neighborhood.

— Louise Lester

Beneficent spirals, operating by benign feedback, mean that everything needful is not required at once: each individual improvement is beneficial for the whole

— Jane Jacobs

Acid wasn't getting a whole lot of bad press at the time, and as I saw the whole bad-press thing happen, I became aware…

— Tommy Rettig

Every single empire in its official discourse has said that it is not like all the others, that its circumstances are special, that it…

— Edward Said

Cultural institutions by and large share one primary objective: herd control. Even when ostensibly benign, their propensity for manipulation, compartmentalization, standardization and suppression of…

— Tom Robbins

Fame is indeed beautiful and benign and gentle and satisfying, but happiness is something at once tender and brilliant beyond all things.

— Mary MacLane

Factory-farm lobbyists are so powerful and so well funded and they do everything in their power to hide the truth about farming. They keep…

— Moby

Whereas religions may serve a benign purpose by letting many people feel comfortable with the level of morality they themselves can attain, no religion…

— Daniel Dennett

The plausible outcomes range from the gradual and benign to the more precipitous and damaging.

— Timothy Geithner