Poor is the nation that has no heroes, but poorer still is the nation that having heroes, fails to remember and honor them.

Politicians are not born; they are excreted.

It is the peculiar quality of a fool to perceive the faults of others and to forget his own.

Read at every wait; read at all hours; read within leisure; read in times of labor; read as one goes in; read as one goest out. The task of the educated mind is simply put: read to lead.

We learn nothing from history except that we learn nothing from history.

It is not enough to acquire wisdom, it is necessary to employ it.

Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents, and everyone is writing a book.

Nothing is more unreliable than the populace, nothing more obscure than human intentions, nothing more deceptive than the whole electoral system.

To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child.

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.

Never was a government that was not composed of liars, malefactors and thieves.

There is no transformation of life without the renewing of the mind.

Nothing in life is more remarkable than the unnecessary anxiety which we endure and generally create ourselves.

Temporary success can be achieved in spite of lack of other fundamental qualities, but no advancements can be maintained without hard work.

Girls say it's hard to find nice guys. It's actually really easy. It's just all nice guys are ugly.

If I ever start talking to you about my 'craft', my 'instrument', you have permission to shoot me.

My youngest son, who is now the drummer in my band, lives in Brooklyn. My oldest son is about to move out to California, and my daughters are both out of town.

I don't want to portray myself as a daredevil. I'm not at all.

How do you tell a child that she was born to be hurt?

It's not necessarily what a family is typically supposed to look like. But it is what it is. It's about a connection and bond that everyone can identify with.

I declare that The Beatles are mutants.