Adams met with a convention on keeping the Sabbath and found the atmosphere surprisingly similar to that in Congress. Legalistic disputes so abounded that he found it difficult to keep order.

The author points out that the moral failure of Abigail Adams' brother focused her on disciplining her children, and herself, so that they did not come to the same end.

No sermon I have heard or read touched my heart with half the force of this puppet show. John Quincy Adams

Shakespeare's work had a liberating influence.

John Quincy Adams strove to escape commonplace thoughts.

Rather than pound or a national mind that he believed had been closed by his critics, John Quincy Adams decided to seek a place in the is the esteem of future generations.

The two grappled in the quiet of old-fashioned personal diplomacy.

John Quincy Adams' depression was treated by his aunt with some reliable remedies, first sleep and then compassion. She said, " He was half cared for by having someone to care for him.

The president notices that when he takes off his coat to dig, people take more notice of the visual than they did his preceding remarks.

He must become an apprentice to ordinary life.

I carry too much of the week into the Sabbath, and too little of the Sabbath into the week. John Quincy Adams

What all good teachers have in common, however, is that they set high standards for their students and do not settle for anything less.

I don't want what love is. I want what love is supposed to be.

That's how life goes on - protected by the silence that anesthetizes shame.

Don't Just Do Something: Stand There. Don't Just Stand There: Do Something.

Don't say you're going to stop eating red meat when you like red meat.

Casting a film is to me one of the most important things next to the writing. If you cast it properly everything takes place very easily. If you cast it improperly you're fighting an uphill battle.

I love working with actors. I grew up with a lot of actors. All my friends are actors. I love that process.

It is of interest to note that most secular humanists continue to belabor the horrors of the Inquisition in order to establish the moral depravity of Christianity.

Failure comes when we don't get back up and try again.

The most glaring deficiency in traditional economic models is that they completely ignore the role of context in evaluation.