Speeches are for the younger men who are going places. And I'm not going anyplace except six feet under the floor of that little chapel adjoining the museum and library at Abilene.

If a political party does not have its foundation in the determination to advance a cause that is right and that is moral, then it is not a political party; it is merely a conspiracy to seize power.

For every obstacle there is a solution. Persistence is the key. The greatest mistake is giving up!

The middle of the road is all of the usable surface. The extremes, right and left, are in the gutters.

Leadership consists of nothing but taking responsibility for everything that goes wrong and giving your subordinates credit for everything that goes well.

The supreme quality of leadership is integrity.

If you want total security, go to prison. There you're fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking... is freedom.

A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.

You don't lead by hitting people over the head - that's assault, not leadership.

Always try to associate yourself with and learn as much as you can from those who know more than you do, who do better than you, who see more clearly than you.

To be true to one's own freedom is, in essence, to honor and respect the freedom of all others.

Joy is something we can’t manufacture. Joy happens to us not because of us.

And what does helping someone really mean? Helping them to be like everyone else, or helping them to be themselves?

Green and living jewels drip into my eyes" from the poem "All Green and Living Things" in the book "Terra Affirmative

Income is the natural and rational gauge and measure of respectability.

When you hit a wall find ways to go under and over, but never give up.

I tell myself that, regardless of what source I draw on, I'm writing a new work for reasons peculiar to me and not an adaptation, and so feel, in the end, justified in singing it my way.

Live quietly in the moment and see the beauty of all before you. The future will take care of itself.

Your work speaks for you. Your art defines you.

The Darwinian theory is in principle capable of explaining life. No other theory that has ever been suggested is in principle capable of explaining life.