Dissimulation is innate in woman, and almost as much a quality of the stupid as of the clever.

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.

It is difficult to find happiness within oneself, but it is impossible to find it anywhere else.

The majority of men... are not capable of thinking, but only of believing, and... are not accessible to reason, but only to authority.

Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.

A man can be himself only so long as he is alone; and if he does not love solitude, he will not love freedom; for it is only when he is alone that he is really free.

Man is the only animal who causes pain to others with no other object than wanting to do so.

Genius and madness have something in common: both live in a world that is different from that which exists for everyone else.

A pessimist is an optimist in full possession of the facts.

Religions are like fireflies. They require darkness in order to shine.

Nature shows that with the growth of intelligence comes increased capacity for pain, and it is only with the highest degree of intelligence that suffering reaches its supreme point.

It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.

The principal aim of a vision quest is to ‘see’ a spirit animal that will become the quester’s animal-helper and source of his power.

There is a major difference between a scuba diver and a drowning man. One is in control of his experiences, the other is in over his head.

You think you're funny? I think I'm adorable.

I wouldn't be satisfied with a life lived solely on the barricades. I reserve my right to be frivolous.

The internal call is when the Spirit of God accompanies the outward administration of the Word to call a man from ignorance to knowledge, and a state of nature to a state of grace.

Whatever you've learned becomes truly useful to you only once it has become second nature.

Dyan Favre, Brett's nephew, is also a gem. Not just a favorite person from the book - a favorite person, period. I actually wound up writing this about him. Simply a good, righteous man.

Live as brave men; and if fortune is adverse, front its blows with brave hearts.

There were times when it would have been easy to fall apart or to go in the opposite direction, but somehow I felt that if I took on more step, someone would come along to join me.