In the blessings as well as in the ills of life, less depends upon what befalls us than upon the way in which it is met.

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.

It is difficult to find happiness within oneself, but it is impossible to find it anywhere else.

The majority of men... are not capable of thinking, but only of believing, and... are not accessible to reason, but only to authority.

Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.

A man can be himself only so long as he is alone; and if he does not love solitude, he will not love freedom; for it is only when he is alone that he is really free.

Man is the only animal who causes pain to others with no other object than wanting to do so.

Genius and madness have something in common: both live in a world that is different from that which exists for everyone else.

A pessimist is an optimist in full possession of the facts.

Religions are like fireflies. They require darkness in order to shine.

Nature shows that with the growth of intelligence comes increased capacity for pain, and it is only with the highest degree of intelligence that suffering reaches its supreme point.

O, what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive!

America has become politically and culturally agnostic, and the Christian faith in the minds of many has come to represent intolerance.

If you work for a man, in Heavens name work for him! If he pays you wages that supply your bread and butter, work for him, stand by him, and stand by the institution he represents.

For the black man there is only one destiny. And it is white.

I figure life's a gift and I don't intend on wasting it. You don't know what hand your gonna get dealt next. You learn to take life as it comes at you... to make each day count.

All women's dresses, in every age and country, are merely variations on the eternal struggle between the admitted desire to dress and the unadmitted desire to undress.

All intelligent problem solvers are subject to the same ultimate constraints - limitations on space, time, and materials.

How can I ignore the Boy Next Door?

When I was in Russia I found that I thought I was going to give these people that I was interviewing a whole bunch of choice in terms of what they could drink while we were chatting.