Because we are free, we can never be indifferent to the fate of freedom elsewhere.

The measure of a society is found in how they treat their weakest and most helpless citizens.

What are the things that you can't see that are important? I would say justice, truth, humility, service, compassion, love...They're the guiding lights of a life.

America did not invent human rights. In a very real sense human rights invented America.

We cannot be both the world's leading champion of peace and the world's leading supplier of the weapons of war.

All I want is the same thing you want. To have a nation with a government that is as good and honest and decent and competent and compassionate and as filled with love as are the American people.

We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.

The test of a government is not how popular it is with the powerful and privileged few but how honestly and fairly it deals with the many who must depend on it.

America has no functioning democracy at this moment.

If you fear making anyone mad, then you ultimately probe for the lowest common denominator of human achievement.

It is difficult for the common good to prevail against the intense concentration of those who have a special interest, especially if the decisions are made behind locked doors.

If I can’t sing, then let me listen to the songs of the wilderness and let me watch the dance of a lonely leaf.

And who are all these people? There weren't this many when I fell asleep."Alfie shrugged, indicating that the universe was mysterious and nothing would ever be fully understood.

I don't like to do what people expect. Why should I live up to their expectations instead of my own?

One of the things I learned in law school is that there's nothing wrong or undesirable or dishonorable or destructive about amending the Constitution.

If a guy was like, 'Let me serenade you,' and it was bad, and I had to lie about it - can't have it.

Singularity in the right hath ruined many; happy those who are convinced of the general opinion.

There's something about valuing people not because they value you, but because you can see God in them.

But also, it's a wonderful thing for children to see the birthing of puppies, to see nature at its best when it works and to have the experience of the puppies.

I've been an idiot to think that real life could have a happy ending

It's not sissy to show your feeling.