It is of the nature of desire not to be satisfied, and most men live only for the gratification of it.

Yes the truth is that men's ambition and their desire to make money are among the most frequent causes of deliberate acts of injustice.

Nature does nothing uselessly.

Men do not become tyrants in order that they may not suffer cold.

Love is the spirit of light.

It was a horrible process to get to this. It took me my whole life. If you’re new at this — and by 'new at it, ' I mean 15 years in, or even 20 — you’re just starting to get traction.

Someone who knows only music, understands nothing about it.

Constitutions should consist only of general provisions; the reason is that they must necessarily be permanent, and that they cannot calculate for the possible change of things.

There has never been a great poet who wasn't also a great reader of poetry.

There are worse places to be than on your own.

All salvation is temporary

The uplift of a fearless heart will help us over barriers. No one ever overcomes difficulties by going at them in a hesitant, doubtful way.

When I came into the job, funding for the humanities at the federal level was being drastically cut. This was the high tide of the new Republican Congress.

The promise of equality is not the same as true equality.