It is unpleasant to see character throw itself away.

To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead.

The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.

A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not to be trusted by anybody.

He who dares not offend cannot be honest.

[A]ll churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Muslim, are simply human inventions. They use fear to enslave us. They are a monopoly for power and profit.

If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.

The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.

Religion is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize humankind; and, for my part, I sincerely detest it as I detest everything that is cruel.

Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.

Honesty, for me, is usually the worst policy imaginable.

There were certainly some people who wanted me to do a feel-good story that affirmed a lot of very commonly held beliefs.

We reproach people for talking about themselves but it is the subject they treat best.

So much one man can do that does both act and know.

Watching a really good movie excites me, because it makes we want to get up off the couch and go shoot something and act in a scene.

The aim of love is to love. No more, no less.

I never give answers. I lead on from one question to another. That is my leadership.

Majorities, of course, start with minorities.

I'm a foot soldier in the war on Christmas. And the war on puppies and sunshine.

What the neurology tells us is that the self consists of many components, and the notion of one unitary self may well be an illusion.