My personal attitude toward atheists is the same attitude that I have toward Christians, and would be governed by a very orthodox text: "By their fruits shall ye know them."

Ultimately evil is done not so much by evil people, but by good people who do not know themselves and who do not probe deeply.

Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Every experience proves that the real problem of our existence lies in the fact that we ought to love one another, but do not.

There was a time when I had all the answers. My real growth began when I discovered that the questions to which I had the answers were not the important questions.

It's always wise to seek the truth in our opponents' error, and the error in our own truth.

Nationalism: One of the effective ways in which the modern man escapes life's ethical problems.

Forgiveness is the final form of love.

Religion is so frequently a source of confusion in political life, and so frequently dangerous to democracy, precisely because it introduces absolutes into the realm of relative values.

Humor is a prelude to faith and laughter is the beginning of prayer.

Nature repeats herself more than one would imagine. The sea has infinitely more variety.

I tell writers to keep reading, reading, reading. Read widely and deeply. And I tell them not to give up even after getting rejection letters. And only write what you love.

We're going to protect Christianity. We don't have to be politically correct about it.

I believe that only poetry counts ... A great novelist is first of all a great poet.

The more you have thought and written on a given theme, the more you can still write. Thought breeds thought. It grows under your hands.

Dance tango and you are literally plastered up against somebody's body

Busy is an opportunity, not a dirty word.

Nobody gives a care about the fate of labor as long as they can get their instant gratification.

The past is only a guidepost... not a hitching post.

Gordie Howe and Bobby Hull and Jean Béliveau probably looked at us in the '80s and said, "These guys are soft. We used to take the train."