In the Church, considered as a social organism, the mysteries inevitably degenerate into beliefs.

Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.

We must not wish for the disappearance of our troubles but for the grace to transform them.

Pain and suffering are a kind of currency passed from hand to hand until they reach someone who receives them but does not pass them on.

There are only two things that pierce the human heart. One is beauty. The other is affliction.

If you want to know what a man is really like, take notice of how he acts when he loses money.

A hurtful act is the transference to others of the degradation which we bear in ourselves.

There is one, and only one, thing in modern society more hideous than crime namely, repressive justice.

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

Equality is the public recognition, effectively expressed in institutions and manners, of the principle that an equal degree of attention is due to the needs of all human beings.

More than in any other performing arts the lack of respect for acting seems to spring from the fact that every layman considers himself a valid critic.

Berlin is all about volatility. Its identity is based not on stability but on change.

When did 'Ask not what your country can do for you' become 'Ask only what your country will give you'?

It's such a crass idea - you're either in love or out of love.

I grew up in a household where we didn't really talk about our feelings, and where the only reason you went to a doctor was because you'd accidentally cut off a limb with a chain saw.

I am prolific. Any rubbish I write gets published, so books keep churning out.

Change occurs when deeply felt private experiences are given public legitimacy.

Ours is a civil fight, and imprisonment as a civil prisoner has got to be earned by the strict observance of the programme.

Why is it so difficult to find God? Because you're looking for something you've never lost.

When the power of imparting joy is equal to the will, the human soul requires no other heaven.

I don't think there's anything worse than your parents being alive and telling you to go give them some money and just act like they're dead.