How necessary it is at all times to watch against the attempted encroachment of power, and to prevent its running to excess.

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.

Preparing and serving food had always been a joy, for it made her appreciate the abundance of the world.

we are too busy listening to our thoughts that we don't hear the wonderful sounds surrounding us...

If life is a stage and you are your own agent, then don’t hesitate to play the character you wish to play.

Time is the moving image of eternity.

He was one of those men who possess almost every gift except the gift of the power to use them.

There's no disgrace in failure, the disgrace is not to try.

The country has come a long way in race relations, but the pendulum swings so far back. Everyone wants to be so sensitive.

It was not right to believe anything you couldn't see or hold in your hands or test with your teeth.

Every time I do what you say I tumble a bit farther down this well of darkness, an' this here is a drop too deep an' too dark for me. I have to stop falling while I can still see a bit of the sky.

The smaller your reality, the more convinced you are that you know everything.