A blot in thy escutcheon to all futurity.

Pray, look better, sir... those things yonder are no giants, but windmills.

Never stand begging for that which you have the power to earn.

In order to attain the impossible, one must attempt the absurd.

He who loses wealth loses much; he who loses a friend loses more; but he that loses his courage loses all.

How will he who does not know how to govern himself know how to govern others?

Three things too much, and three too little are pernicious to man; to speak much, and know little; to spend much, and have little; to presume much, and be worth little.

That one man scorned and covered with scars Still strove with his last ounce of courage To reach the unreachable star.

Too much sanity may be madness and the maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be.

The wicked are always ungrateful.

Her father guarded her, and she guarded herself; for there are no padlocks, bolts, or bars, that secure a maiden better than her own reserve.

Belief, he says. Belief shifts. People start out believing in the god and end up believing in the structure.

If we contest with a lesser opponent, we reduce ourselves, and in the process wind up being lesser accomplished.

Give me honorable enemies rather than ambitious ones, and I'll sleep more easily by night.

Whatever it was her father wanted, Emma did not know how to provide it. She felt confused by what he did, and imagined the problem was a lack in her, rather than him. And there was something

One new feature or fresh take can change everything.

I feel alone and safe in public.

Stand-up is the only career like that where once you get really big at it, people kind of encourage you not to do it.

One cannot spend forever sitting and solving the mysteries of oone's history.

I know very few writers who outline fully before they start. It just doesn't seem possible to do, because so many things don't come out until you're absolutely knee-deep in the world.

O, full of scorpions is my mind!