Shelf Quotes by John McCarthy

Self-righteousness has killed more people than smoking.

— John McCarthy

“All travel is, after all, a journey in time & in mind.... physical landscapes are a mirror of, or perhaps a key into, our…

— John McCarthy

Never abandon a theory that explains something until you have a theory that explains more.

— John McCarthy

An extreme optimist is a man who believes that humanity will probably survive even if it doesn't take his advice.

— John McCarthy

A declining institution often experiences survival of the unfittest.

— John McCarthy

We modern Marxists regard socialism as a historically brief transitional stage between feudalism and capitalism, necessary only in backward countries.

— John McCarthy

If a person can be said to have the wrong attitude, there is no need to pay attention to his arguments.

— John McCarthy

His ambition is to be the spider in the World Wide Web.

— John McCarthy

Amateur bureaucrats are often even worse than professional bureaucrats.

— John McCarthy

When I see a slippery slope, my instinct is to build a terrace.

— John McCarthy

The slogan was 'Don't trust anyone over thirty'. Sixty years later the slogan became, 'Don't trust anyone over ninety'.

— John McCarthy

He who refuses to do arithmetic is doomed to talk nonsense.

— John McCarthy