Most benefactors are like unskillful generals who take the city and leave the citadel intact.

A day without laughter is a day wasted.

Contemplation often makes life miserable. We should act more, think less, and stop watching ourselves live.

The sunset glow of self-possession.

There are more people who wish to be loved than there are who are willing to love.

The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.

The most wasted day of all is that on which we have not laughed.

The only thing that stops God from sending another flood is that the first one was useless.

Pleasure can be supported by an illusion; but happiness rests upon truth.

Intelligent people make many mistakes because they cannot believe the world is really as foolish as it is.

Society is divided into two classes, the shearers and the shorn.

Dream of yoking a gnat with an archangel, and then imagine that you can help your Lord in the work of salvation.

How did we keep getting so lost in a midnight world? Why did we continue lamenting as we wounded our hearts and were cut apart?

Knowledge of the past and of the places of the earth is the ornament and food of the mind of man.

It is more than possible; it is probable.

I like buying iTunes. It's instant.

We owe to our Mother-Country the Duty of Subjects but will not pay her the Submission of Slaves.

Unless you're lead dog, the scenery never changes.

Fortunately, in President Obama, the child of an African and an American, we finally have a leader who is uniquely positioned to bridge the great reparations divide.

Like any good shaman, professional baseball player, or politician, my mother always answered questions with questions.

When I made my first album, there was no indication that anybody other than my parents were going to buy it.