[I can] scarcely write upon mathematics or mathematicians. Oh for words to express my abomination of the science.

The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

To sum up the whole, we should say that the aim of the Platonic philosophy was to exalt man into a god.

It is possible to be below flattery as well as above it. One who trusts nobody will not trust sycophants. One who does not value real glory will not value its counterfeit.

Finesse is the best adaptation of means to circumstances.

People crushed by law have no hopes but from power. If laws are their enemies, they will be enemies to laws.

I would rather be poor in a cottage full of books than a king without the desire to read.

The Puritan hated bear-baiting, not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators.

Ye diners out from whom we guard our spoons.

Nothing is so galling to a people not broken in from birth as a paternal, or, in other words, a meddling government, a government which tells them what to read, and say, and eat, and drink and wear.

Your Constitution is all sail and no anchor.

Punk and all that was just an image that ripped people off. Johnny Rotten's a wanker, and that's all there is to it.

The holier a man becomes, the more he mourns over the unholiness which remains in him.

The mind needs stories as much as the body needs food. There are junk stories and more nourishing ones. The food we eat becomes our bodies, assimilated stories form our identities

Tailoring your clothes makes all the difference.

To survive, our minds must taste redwood, and agate, octopi, bat, and in the bat's mouth, insect. It's hard to think like a planet, but we've got to try.

There's a sense of entitlement and isolationism that I think is really dangerous, and the way globalization and technology have been used isn't really for the best.

If you are a minority, it is important that you have legal ways to defend yourself in the society in which you live.

The joy of learning is as indispensable in study as breathing is in running.

We have a long tradition in this state of caring for our neighbors - it is truly an Iowa value.

Writing doesn't mean necessarily putting words on a sheet of paper. You can write a chapter while walking or eating.