Nothing is pure and entire of a piece. All advantages are attended with disadvantages. A universal compensation prevails in all conditions of being and existence.

There is no such thing as freedom of choice unless there is freedom to refuse.

Nothing is more surprising than the easiness with which the many are governed by the few.

Beauty in things exists in the mind which contemplates them.

A wise man proportions his belief to the evidence.

When men are most sure and arrogant they are commonly most mistaken, giving views to passion without that proper deliberation which alone can secure them from the grossest absurdities.

The life of man is of no greater importance to the universe than that of an oyster.

Be a philosopher but, amid all your philosophy be still a man.

A propensity to hope and joy is real riches; one to fear and sorrow real poverty.

All knowledge degenerates into probability.

It is an absurdity to believe that the Deity has human passions, and one of the lowest of human passions, a restless appetite for applause

I could not think without writing.

The ideal beauty is a fugitive which is never found.

Phoney: Here's your problem Fone Bone! We're off the map! Get a bigger map!

Honesty is the biggest thing I admire, respect, and look for. And it's something that's kind of disappearing in some people nowadays.

Before you speak, it is necessary for you to listen, for God speaks in the silence of the heart.

I was raised Catholic and I'm Presbyterian now, but I've always been a Christian, regardless of denomination. I believe that Jesus is the way.

Reality, like God and History, tends to direct people to wherever they want to go.

You can either take action, or you can hang back and hope for a miracle. Miracles are great, but they are so unpredictable.

The mystics will tell you death is perfectly safe. A violent act will beget a violent act; it is simply a law.

Every woman knows that if she were free, she would never bear an unwished-for child nor think of murdering one before its birth.