Of all forms of visible otherworldliness, it seems to me, the Gothic is at once the most logical and the most beautiful. It reaches up magnificently-and a good half of it is palpably useless.

Love is like war: easy to begin but very hard to stop.

On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.

The demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots.

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

Morality is doing what is right, no matter what you are told. Religion is doing what you are told, no matter what is right.

Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.

Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.

The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule.

It is inaccurate to say that I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office.

Democracy is also a form of worship. It is the worship of Jackals by Jackasses.

To be creative, first we must be generous. Then we must have a quiet, indomitable belief in our own worth.

Grass is the forgiveness of nature - her constant benediction. Forests decay harvests perish flowers vanish but grass is immortal.

One of the most devastating experiences in human life is disillusionment.

True compassion means not only feeling another's pain but also being moved to help relieve it.

Riches do not come by crossing your fingers and walking through the day hoping. Riches and wealth comes from well-laid plans.

Success is peace of mind in knowing you did your best.

My main expertise is in the past, but if I have to extrapolate into the future, I would say: no good news any time soon and an obvious exit strategy is not apparent to me.

I have been to Canada several times. It was autumn when I visited Vancouver and I will always remember the colour of the trees in British Columbia were stunning.

I'm sitting on top of the world, and I've got hemorrhoids.

I've talked in front of ... like... a lot of big business people about stuff I didn't even know.