Superstition is the need to view the world in terms of simple cause and effect.

The only thing binding individuals together is ideas. Ideas mutate and spread; they change their hosts as much as their hosts change them.

I try not to be surprised. Surprise is the public face of a mind that has been closed.

Thought, like any parasite, cannot exist without a compliant host.

A society that fears knowledge is a society that fears itself.

Human spirit is the ability to face the uncertainty of the future with curiosity and optimism.

Many scholars have complained of our tendency to see history only in conflicts, but I am not convinced they are right. It is in conflict that our values are exposed.

... from our vantage point it is now clear that the only thing the population had to fear was fear itself.

Which came first, the mind or the idea of the mind? Have you never wondered? They arrived together. The mind is an idea.

In the end, living is defined by dying.

Unable to attribute misfortune to chance, unable to accept their ultimate insignificance within the greater scheme, the people looked for monsters in their midst.

Miracle is the ability God has given you.

It was a requirement by the veterans to list the 57, 000 names. We're reaching a time that we'll acknowledge the individual in a war on a national level.

You can't go to medical school and come out and be like, 'I'm going to be a dog catcher.' That would be so pointless.

I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me.

I don't care about [being a star]. The most important thing for me now is just do my job.

Of all peoples the Greeks have dreamt the dream of life best.

The unexpected always happens.

is this fragile love/ a way/ to say/ goodbye

The bible belt is oral territory and therefore despised by the literati.

Inventors don't have time for married life.