He was persuaded he could know no happiness but in the society of one with whom he could for ever indulge the melancholy that had taken possession of his soul.

Heaven mocks the short-sighted views of man.

I fear no bad angel, and have offended no good one.

There is no bombast, no similes, flowers, digressions, or unnecessary descriptions. Everything tends directly to the catastrophe.

Everyone deserves something so much better than what they deserve.

The key to good listening isn't technique, it's desire. Until we truly want to understand the other person, we'll never listen well.

Who is rich? He that is content. Who is that? Nobody.

Does taking the life of the perpetrator return your mom? No.

This woman's work is exceptional. Too bad she's not a man.

I'm foremost an actor. I feel embarrassed being compared to the guys who really work at it. I fake it, I make believe I know all about it, which is what you're supposed to do as an actor.

Independence I have long considered as the grand blessing of life, the basis of every virtue; and independence I will ever secure by contracting my wants, though I were to live on a barren heath.

we are, in this country, more open to new ideas. But we are also, it seems to me, more inclined to hail the new as absolute truth - until the next new comes along.

To please the many is to displease the wise.

It was another day to go to work, and try to play and play well.