No punishment is so terrible as prosperous guilt.

Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict.

The world is governed by opinion.

Fix your eyes on perfection and you make almost everything speed towards it.

We smile at the ignorance of the savage who cuts down the tree in order to reach its fruit; but the same blunder is made by every person who is over eager and impatient in the pursuit of pleasure.

Every human being is intended to have a character of his own; to be what no others are, and to do what no other can do.

May your life preach more loudly than your lips.

Every mind was made for growth, for knowledge, and its nature is sinned against when it is doomed to ignorance.

Nothing which has entered into our experience is ever lost.

All virtue lies in individual action, in inward energy, in self determination. There is no moral worth in being swept away by a crowd even toward the best objective.

It is not the quantity but the quality of knowledge which determines the mind's dignity.

She was surprised to find that something from deep down in herself welled into her eyes and burned her cheeks: a few poor tears shed by one who never cried!

I think Father Christmas is real because the belief is real. The belief becomes the reality.

Temperance adds zest to pleasure.

Our society is run by a managerial bureaucracy, by professional politicians; people are motivated by mass suggestion, their aim is producing more and consuming more, as purposes in themselves.

Harry Potter was a highly unusual boy in many ways.

A democracy cannot function effectively when its constituent members believe laws are being bought and sold.

And then I did laugh, even though the future was a dangerous place, because I loved her, and she loved me, and the world was beautiful.

While some people might find it distasteful to pay taxes, I don't. I find it patriotic.

I think comedy has to be an intellectual pursuit. It comes down to logic and analysis. As soon as it becomes emotional, it's not comedy anymore.

Being a musician is a given for me-I didn't have much choice in the matter.