Liberty is precious. But so is life. It should not be so difficult for men and women of good will and good heart and sound mind to find the right balance between the two.

We often talk too much & listen too little. The surer route to winning a friend isn't to convince them that you're right, but that you care what they think.

Our greatest leaders are neither dreamers nor dictators: They are, like Jefferson, those who articulate national aspirations yet master the mechanics of influence and know when to depart from dogma.

[T]o argue that something is so because it is in the Bible is more than intellectually bankrupt.

A lot of people, including business leaders, think the future belongs to China. Globalization is not a zero-sum game, but we need to hone our skills to stay in play.

Religious belief, like history itself, is a story that is always unfolding, always subject to inquiry and ripe for questioning. For without doubt there is no faith.

The Occupy Wall Street protests at last suggest that America's wealth gap is once again becoming an organizing political principle in the country.

In the fullness of time, I suspect that bigotry against homosexuals will seem as repugnant as racial prejudice does today. Or so one hopes.

No government can be maintained without the principle of fear as well as duty.

Jefferson was the rare leader who stood out from the crowd without intimidating it.

Steadiness of faith, was, in the long run, as illuminating and essential as sophistication of thought.

Faith is fierce flame.

The journey of life is filled with unlimited opportunities and possibilities.

When he sacrifices himself man for a moment is greater than God, for how can God, infinite and omnipotent, sacrifice himself?

Inspiration does not come like a blot nor is it kinetic energy striving but it comes to us slowly and quietly all the time.

All the things that live within you find their place, in character and story, once you tap into that other space that is the creative writing space.

Slander is a complication, a comprisal and sum of all wickedness.

Better to rely on one powerful king than on many little princes.

Mother cow expects from us nothing but grass and grain.

There are things that outweigh comfort, unless one is an old woman or a cat.