Rascals are always sociable, more's the pity! and the chief sign that a man has any nobility in his character is the little pleasure he takes in others' company.

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.

It is difficult to find happiness within oneself, but it is impossible to find it anywhere else.

The majority of men... are not capable of thinking, but only of believing, and... are not accessible to reason, but only to authority.

Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.

A man can be himself only so long as he is alone; and if he does not love solitude, he will not love freedom; for it is only when he is alone that he is really free.

Man is the only animal who causes pain to others with no other object than wanting to do so.

Genius and madness have something in common: both live in a world that is different from that which exists for everyone else.

A pessimist is an optimist in full possession of the facts.

Religions are like fireflies. They require darkness in order to shine.

Nature shows that with the growth of intelligence comes increased capacity for pain, and it is only with the highest degree of intelligence that suffering reaches its supreme point.

i want to go to the gymand pretend the weight machines are drumsand play the longest drum solo on them

I don't paint what people expect, I paint what my heart yearns to express.

What's in a name?

I believe that every individual is naturally entitled to do as he pleases with himself and the fruits of his labor, so far as it in no way interferes with any other men's rights.

We grow neither better or worse as we get old, but more like ourselves.

Children...need most of the same things adults need--consideration, respect for their work, the knowledge that they and the things they do are taken seriously.

I can't remember a time when I wasn't singing.

When I'm not working, I weight train three times a week and swim and surf as much as I can - in the summer, you usually find me in the water.

Kurds are like fire, if approached kindly they will warm you, if approached badly they will burn you

One of the things that draws writers to writing is that they can get things right that they got wrong in real life by writing about them.