Instead of idleness, vanity, or an intellect formed by the spoon-feeding of others, my girls have acquired energy, industry, and independence.

To know a man's library is, in some measure, to know a man's mind.

A book is more than the sum of its materials. It is an artifact of the human mind and hand.

There are always a few who stand up in times of communal madness and have the courage to say that what unites us is greater than what divides us.

She was like a butterfly, full of color and vibrancy when she chose to open her wings, yet hardly visible when she closed them.

I'm a praying atheist. When I hear an ambulance siren, I ask for a blessing for those people in trouble, knowing that no one's listening. I think it's just a habit of mindfulness.

The brave man, the real hero, quakes with terror, sweats, feels his very bowels betray him, and in spite of this moves forward to do the act he dreads.

It is human nature to imagine, to put yourself in another's shoes. The past may be another country. But the only passport required is empathy.

Book burnings. Always the forerunners. Heralds of the stake, the ovens, the mass graves.

Who is the brave man--he who feels no fear? If so, then bravery is but a polite term for a mind devoid of rationality and imagination.

You go on. You set one foot in front of the other, and if a thin voice cries out, somewhere behind you, you pretend not to hear, and keep going.

For what avail the plough or sail, or land or life, if freedom fail?

Sometimes an artist's first invention is herself.

Reading is a beautiful prayer for knowledge.

Whenever you look in front and see a lot of people ahead of you, take time to look at the long queue behind you. Let us live a life of contentment.

The law can be an instrument of equalization only as it takes from some persons and gives to other persons. When the law does this, it is an instrument of plunder.

Gods are nothing without their worshipers; they act on the affairs and the passions of men.

When I got pregnant my foot grew, but I was denying it. I've been denying it for three years

The Earth forgives the previous year every year.

No matter what others say or do, even if the wicked succeed, do not be troubled: commit everything to God and put your trust in him.

The founding fathers never once rationalized getting in power and having control so they could stay in power.