People have been murdered over cartoons. End of moral analysis.

The problem with religion, because it's been sheltered from criticism, is that it allows people to believe en masse what only idiots or lunatics could believe in isolation.

Either God can do nothing to stop catastrophes like this, or he doesn't care to, or he doesn't exist. God is either impotent, evil, or imaginary. Take your pick, and choose wisely.

A puppet is free as long as he loves his strings.

We have a choice. We have two options as human beings. We have a choice between conversation and war. That's it. Conversation and violence. And faith is a conversation stopper.

How we pay attention to the present moment...determin es the character of our experience and...the quality of our lives.

You can do what you decide to do — but you cannot decide what you will decide to do.

How can we be “free” as conscious agents if everything that we consciously intend is caused by events in our brain that we do not intend and of which we are entirely unaware? We can’t.

You don't get anything worth getting, by pretending to know things you don't know.

Jesus Christ—who, as it turns out, was born of a virgin, cheated death, and rose bodily into the heavens—can now be eaten in the form of a cracker

The position of the Muslim community in the face of all provocations seems to be: Islam is a religion of peace, and if you say that it isn't, we will kill you.

If we read, we shall renew our minds.

By their fruits ye shall know them.

Commitment leads to action. Action brings your dream closer.

Knowledge is limited.

Over my 24 years in the Senate, Jim, I've never voted against anyone because of their substantive views.

My neighborhood is fairly white, yet the local middle school is all black. It is bad. It is very bad.

You can hand out condoms, drop bombs, build roads, or put in electricity, but until the girls are educated a society won’t change.

I want to bring accountability to the federal government. I want the federal government to respect the states.

A timeless lesson for a deeply fulfilling life is to discover your calling, that special work or consuming occupation that fully engages your special talents with your passions.

This was our common ground, the secret we shared but never spoke aloud.