As men are affected in all ages by the same passions, the occasions which bring about great changes are different, but the causes are always the same.

It is necessary from the very nature of things that power should be a check to power.

The deterioration of every government begins with the decay of the principles on which it was founded.

We receive three educations, one from our parents, one from our school-masters, and one from the world. The third contradicts all that the first two teach us.

There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice.

Every man who has power is impelled to abuse it.

In the state of nature... all men are born equal, but they cannot continue in this equality. Society makes them lose it, and they recover it only by the protection of the law.

A nation may lose its liberties in a day and not miss them in a century.

For a country, everything will be lost when the jobs of an economist and a banker become highly respected professions.

Liberty... is there only when there is no abuse of power.

Knowledge humanizes mankind, and reason inclines to mildness; but prejudices eradicate every tender disposition.

The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery.

I could leave—because I could return. I could return—because I knew adventure lay just beyond an open door. Instead of either/or, I discovered a whole world of and.

A true believer is a danger to humanity.

I am invested in keeping present the forgotten bodies.

The triangle of truisms, of father, mother and child, cannot be destroyed; it can only destroy those civilizations which disregard it.

Let the pain remind you hearts can heal

Kindness is better and can be more powerful than force. Kind words may unlock an iron door.

The novel's not organized like a screenplay. If you shot the novel, you'd have a twelve-hour movie.

Shut up, me" Leo said out loud. "What?" Piper asked. "Nothing," he said. "Long night. I think I'm hallucinating. It's cool.

A library is also a place where love begins.