Reason is feminine in nature; it can only give after it has received.

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.

Your recipe, darling, is so tasty, and you sure can stir your pot.

If you want to learn a thing, read that. If you want to know a thing, write that; if you want to master a thing, teach that.

Dumbledore would have been happier than anybody to think that there was a little more love in the world.

If you cut a painter's hands off, he'd still feel the urge to pick up a brush.

The dictionary is based on the hypothesis -- obviously an unproven one -- that languages are made up of equivalent synonyms.

Isn't it fascinating how long a few minutes seem when you are completely alone with not a familiar face in sight?

I believe verbal felicity is the fruit of ardor, of diligence, and of refusing to be false.

Everybody will say that they're not opposed to immigration; they're opposed to illegal immigration. That's what I'm saying.

Suppose you succeed in breaking the wall with your head. And what, then, will you do in the next cell?

Knowing what to leave out is just as important as knowing what to focus on.