Courage was America's watchword, but a courage of the body rather than of the soul - physical courage, not moral.

The world doesn't come to the clever folks, it comes to the stubborn, obstinate, one-idea-at-a-time people.

Peace is not a passive but an active condition, not a negation but an affirmation.

People that trust themselves a dozen miles from the city, in strange houses, with servants they don't know, needn't be surprised if they wake up some morning and find their throats cut.

Love is like the measles, all the worse when it comes late.

having considerable mind, changing it became almost as ponderous an operation as moving a barn, although not nearly so stable.

I had a vision ... of being found on the pavement by some passerby, with a small punctuation mark ending my sentence of life.

Every crucial experience can be regarded either as a setback, or the start of a wonderful new adventure, it depends on your perspective!

when knowledge comes in at the door, fear and superstition fly out of the window.

The mystery story is two stories in one: the story of what happened and the story of what appeared to happen.

Conflict is the very essence of life.

The best way to deal with bureaucrats is with stealth and sudden violence.

Working in this industry, I do feel that science and creativity turned out to be a very useful combination for me.

I feel like women's minds never stop.

I've loved you since the day I stole the atlas for you," Gabriel says, because he thinks I'm asleep.

I'm terrified by speaking in front of people!

Truth is cold and hard but it is also the first step on the path to hope and salvation.

A lot of liberals don't believe in American exceptionalism, but it doesn't mean they don't love America.

I can't think of a single area where [Barack] Obama is not destructive.

There is nothing capricious in nature and the implanting of a desire indicates that its gratification is in the constitution of the creature that feel it.

Acting is my first focus, but at the core, I'm a storyteller, and however that comes out is fine with me.