Gaiety is a quality of ordinary men. Genius always presupposes some disorder in the machine.

Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.

We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us, but we sip only little by little at a truth we find bitter.

All things must be examined, debated, investigated without exception and without regard for anyone's feelings.

Those who fear the facts will forever try to discredit the fact-finders.

Disturbances in society are never more fearful than when those who are stirring up the trouble can use the pretext of religion to mask their true designs.

Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things.

Skepticism is the first step on the road to philosophy.

Oh! how near are genius and madness! Men imprison them and chain them, or raise statues to them.

In general, children, like men, and men, like children, prefer entertainment to education.

Although a man may wear fine clothing, if he lives peacefully; and is good, self-possessed, has faith and is pure; and if he does not hurt any living being, he is a holy man.

Life is a magical journey, so travel endlessly to unfold its profound and heart touching beauty.

I will do my best. That is all I can do. I ask for your help - and God's.

I walked in and inherited a management group that I didn't know very well. They didn't know me, and we had a very short window to put together a credible recovery plan.

It's true I've always been attracted to the jazz band in an orchestral way, rather than a band way.

I tend to be a great optimist when it comes to the United States and the American way of life, I think precisely because I wasn't born into it.

I do enjoy running down a ditch full of mud, firing bullets. It’s the way I am. I love it.

I think I do speak to all ages, but the emphasis is, unlike everybody else who is chasing the Millennials, I'm not chasing the Millennials.

If I get two strikes, I'll go to a pitch maybe that will help induce that a little bit.

When I am writing a story it feels as real as the life I am experiencing off the page. It's an emotional illusion, I guess.

Obligation is thraldom, and thraldom is hateful.