Axioms are delightful in theory, but impossible in practice.

The most civilized people are as near to barbarism as the most polished steel is to rust. Nations, like metals, have only a superficial brilliancy.

Man spends his life in reasoning on the past, in complaining of the present, in fearing future.

It is the dim haze of mystery that adds enchantment to pursuit.

Of every ten persons who talk about you, nine will say something bad, and the tenth will say something good in a bad way.

The absolute ruler may be a Nero, but he is sometimes a Titus or Marc Aurelius; the people is often Nero, but never Marc Aurelius.

To lose one's self in reverie, one must be either very happy, or very unhappy. Reverie is the child of extremes.

Gold like the sun, which melts wax, but hardens clay, expands great souls.

The only thing wealth does for some people is to make them worry about losing it.

The modest man has everything to gain, and the arrogant man everything to lose; for modesty has always to deal with generosity, and arrogance with envy.

Opinions, theories, and systems pass by turns over the grindstone of time, which at first gives them brilliancy and sharpness, but finally wears them out.

Thinking is the hardest work anyone can do, which is probably the reason why we have so few thinkers.

The deeds of the light are love, faith and purity.

Time is a beautiful thing. It's like when you meet an old lover on the street six years later and they don't look so ugly anymore.

Jihad is misused by fundamentalists. The Quranic meaning is not meant for war at all, in the sense of killing.

Our prayers must not be efforts to bend God to our will but to yield ourselves to His.

Except when it comes to Mom. She is, and always has been, the driving force in this family. And sometimes that means driving us head-on, no possible change of course, into a wall.

Those who achieve happiness understand the basic fact that regardless of how much fun you're having or how many things you accomplish, life through the lens of history is incredibly short.

When I was fighting Tyrell Biggs, Tyson was telling me at ringside to hit him to the ribs. We always had a mutual respect for each other since we sparred those early times. We got that over with.

He who has the gold makes the rules.

Women aren't objects that you look at only on weekends.