It is a common trait of primates to become submissive and even worshipful toward one who has the power to kill them.

Among my most prized possessions are words that I have never spoken.

In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him.

I've lived too long with pain. I won't know who I am without it

Ender Wiggin must believe that no matter what happens, no adult will ever, ever step in to help him in any way.

I need you to be clever, Bean. I need you to think of solutions to problems we haven't seen yet. I want you to try things that no one has ever tried because they're absolutely stupid.

Unemployment is capitalism's way of getting you to plant a garden.

We're like the wicked witch. We promise gingerbread, then eat the little brats alive.

Metaphors have a way of holding the most truth in the least space.

There's only one thing that will make them stop hating you. And that's being so good at what you do that they can't ignore you

There is more good writing and good acting in any ten minutes of Twister than in, say, all of Citizen Kane.

Gratitude is the key to unlocking the door to abundance.

There are no gods, only men.

To burn the ideal of a great love into the soul of youth in letters of fire - that is to give him a real moral strength.

Some things can't be changed. They'll always happen the way they were supposed to.

Ancient laws remain in force long after the people have the power to change them.

Freedom is not doing what you want when you want. Freedom is the power to do what has to be done when it needs to be done.

When they give you things, ask yourself why. When you're grateful to them for giving you the things you should have anyway, ask yourself why.

Aphorisms have never seduced anybody, but they have fooled some into considering themselves worldly-wise.

If you meet people who have been successful in Hollywood, or look a their photographs, you see a haunted look in their eyes, you sense a trapped feeling.

It's the most rewarding thing to be a civil servant.