One reader is better than another in proportion as he is able of a greater range of activity in reading and exerts more effort.

Not to engage in this pursuit of ideas is to live like ants instead of like men.

All genuine learning is active, not passive. It involves the use of the mind, not just the memory. It is a process of discovery, in which the student is the main agent, not the teacher.

Erotic or sexual love can truly be love if it is not selfishly sexual or lustful.

Freedom is the emancipation from the arbitrary rule of other men.

One of the embarrassing problems for the early nineteenth-century champions of the Christian faith was that not one of the first six Presidents of the United States was an orthodox Christian.

More consequences for thought and action follow the affirmation or denial of God than from answering any other basic question.

In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but how many can get through to you.

A good book can teach you about the world and about yourself. You learn more than how to read better; you also learn more about life. You become wiser.

To agree without understanding is inane. To disagree without understanding is impudent.

The ultimate end of education is happiness or a good human life, a life enriched by the possession of every kind of good, by the enjoyment of every type of satisfaction.

All you can do is make your decisions based on what you know now.

Tremendous beauty and tremendous ugliness puts you on the outside of things.

Depression is like a bruise that never goes away. A bruise in your mind. You just got to be careful not to touch it where it hurts. It's always there, though.

There is never a need to justify anything to others, only yourself.

The function of wisdom is to discriminate between good and evil.

It's very easy to be cynical about any kind of interference in things that are beyond our skill set.

A wounded heart will heal in time, and when it does, the memory and love of our lost ones is sealed inside to comfort us.

As the Senator from Vermont was kind enough to note, I did have the experience of being commander in chief of our National Guard in Missouri for 8 years.

Overcoming negative tendencies and enhancing positive potential are the very essence of the spiritual path.

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