An instinctive taste teaches men to build their churches with spire steeples which point as with a silent finger to the sky and stars.

Exclusively of the abstract sciences, the largest and worthiest portion of our knowledge consists of aphorisms: and the greatest and best of men is but an aphorism.

Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.

There is one art of which people should be masters - the art of reflection.

Humor is consistent with pathos, whilst wit is not.

A great mind must be androgynous.

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea.

That gracious thing, made up of tears and light.

The love of a mother is the veil of a softer light between the heart and the heavenly Father.

Religion is the most gentlemanly thing in the world. It alone will gentilize, if unmixed with cant.

Poor little Foal of an oppressed race! I love the languid patience of thy face.

Can it be true that freedom only exists when it is a treasure, shared by all?

Difficulty is only a matter of the willingness to do.

When I sit at that typewriter, I have to be frightened of what I'm trying to do. I'm frightened by my own belief that I can actually get a story down on paper.

The Real [is] the sole foundation of the Ideal.

I think humor is important for all of us, and a great comedian is a great treasure.

The cutting of the gem has to be finished before you can see whether it shines.

Cancer Is an opportunity to sit down and look into yourself and find the answers. Yes, it's serious, but it's not the end-all.

It's hard for me to believe someone could harm a child.

The stronger the identity, the more it imprisons, the more it resists expansion, interpretation, renewal, contradiction.

I just can really adapt to any kind of environment.