Hence it happened that all the armed prophets conquered, all the unarmed perished. [It., Di qui nacque che tutti li profeti armati vincero, e li disarmati rovinarono.]

The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves.

Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.

I desire to go to Hell and not to Heaven. In the former I shall enjoy the company of popes, kings and princes, while in the latter are only beggars, monks and apostles

Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage.

A government which does not trust its citizens to be armed is not itself to be trusted.

Men are so stupid and concerned with their present needs, they will always let themselves be deceived.

It is just as difficult and dangerous to try to free a people that wants to remain servile as it is to enslave a people that wants to remain free.

Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good.

A sign of intelligence is an awareness of one's own ignorance.

Power is the pivot on which everything hinges. He who has the power is always right; the weaker is always wrong.

I saw [Allen Ginsberg] more as an old man who liked poetry and who had a lot of physical and emotional problems. We liked our time together.

There are such things as consecrated griefs, sorrows that may be common to everyone but which take on a special character when accepted intelligently and offered to God in loving submission.

An unacknowledged trauma is like a wound that never heals over and may start to bleed again at any time.

The people who really rule the world are those who know how to pray.

In the creative state a man is taken out of himself.

I feel like, even in this crazy world of Trump getting elected and these things that really kind of caught me off-guard, I feel like I understand less than I did.

Nothing is more simple than greatness; indeed, to be simple is to be great.

Honor does not have to be defended.

It is always fair sailing, when you escape evil.

We sat together as a family for dinner at night. And my mother had a job. My dad had a job. But there was always a meal on the table at 6:00, you know.