A fanatical belief in democracy makes democratic institutions impossible.

The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.

The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.

The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.

Men are born ignorant, not stupid. They are made stupid by education.

An Honest politician will not be tolerated by a democracy unless he is very stupid ... because only a very stupid man can honestly share the prejudices of more than half the nation.

If there were in the world today any large number of people who desired their own happiness more than they desired the unhappiness of others, we could have a paradise in a few years.

We have in fact, two kinds of morality, side by side: one which we preach, but do not practice, and another which we practice, but seldom preach.

The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd.

Cruel men believe in a cruel god and use their belief to excuse their cruelty. Only kindly men believe in a kindly god, and they would be kindly in any case.

It was a needless precaution, I felt sure, but men always enjoy marching around with weapons and flexing their figurative muscles, and I saw no reason to deny them this harmless exercise.

It's amazing to me the number of people who will volunteer to help at church but won't lift a finger to help at home!

Everybody's a filmmaker today.

I grew up where my parents would literally shove me in the car rather than have to say hello to a neighbor.

I get skinnier if I'm very busy.

It's in an inland sea that the river of my life ended.

Amongst the many definitions, there is one that may be generally agreed upon: modernity is the epoch in which simply being modern became a decisive value in itself.

To be honest, I wouldn't mind one last jaunt through the old orifice.

There are no dangerous weapons; there are only dangerous men.

All directors should have to act and all actors should have to direct, so that they can understand all these key things that come into play with whether you can meet your day.