He is not affected by the reality of distress touching his heart, but by the showy resemblance of it striking his imagination. He pities the plumage, but forgets the dying bird.

To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead.

The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.

A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not to be trusted by anybody.

He who dares not offend cannot be honest.

[A]ll churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Muslim, are simply human inventions. They use fear to enslave us. They are a monopoly for power and profit.

If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.

The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.

Religion is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize humankind; and, for my part, I sincerely detest it as I detest everything that is cruel.

Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.

When you enter a relationship, ask yourself: Will I be prisoner to an idol by seeing the body, or free in relationship by seeing the soul?

Give yourself a break from any holy book andstart looking at others as you want to be looked at.

Who am I? The great inquiry indeed.

To dream! Such dreams certainly make life more worth living... and only dreams can do that for me.

I believe in the sanctity of marriage.

It's rural America. It's where I came from. We always refer to ourselves as real America. Rural America, real America, real, real, America.

There is a certain perfection in accident which we never consciously attain.

The question, I've come to think, is not what inspires one to change, but what inspires one to remain changed.

We now need to look beyond our immediate future and aim higher and farther.

The Lord 'hath set His tabernacle in the sun,' says the Psalmist. The sun is Mary's heart.