The death of a child is the greatest reason to doubt the existence of God.

The best way to keep a prisoner from escaping is to make sure he never knows he's in prison.

Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on earth.

If you wish to glimpse inside a human soul and get to know a man ... just watch him laugh. If he laughs well, he's a good man.

Learning to love is hard and we pay dearly for it. It takes hard work and a long apprenticeship, for it is not just for a moment that we must learn to love, but forever.

People speak sometimes about the "bestial" cruelty of man, but that is terribly unjust and offensive to beasts, no animal could ever be so cruel as a man, so artfully, so artistically cruel.

It is better to be unhappy and know the worst, than to be happy in a fool's paradise.

Nothing is easier than to denounce the evildoer; nothing is more difficult than to understand him.

I think the devil doesn't exist, but man has created him, he has created him in his own image and likeness.

Don’t be overwise; fling yourself straight into life, without deliberation; don’t be afraid - the flood will bear you to the bank and set you safe on your feet again.

The most offensive is not their lying - one can always forgive lying - lying is a delightful thing, for it leads to truth - what is offensive is that they lie and worship their own lying.

You ruin is your rebellion against God.

The only way to heal is to help others heal, and the only way to find love and keep love in our lives is to give it to others.

Each phase of the transformation process has distinct milestones, is progressive, and is not revisited.

The Cold War may be 'over' for the West. For the Soviets it has entered a new, active and promising phase.

If I lived my life by what others were thinkin', the heart inside me would've died.

They told me I wouldn't make 25. Then it was 35, then 45. These were my doctors speaking - they're all dead now.

A man cannot be wise enough to be a great artist without being wise enough to wish to be a philosopher.

Love alone is credible.

The chief weapon of sea pirates, however, was their capacity to astonish. Nobody else could believe, until it was too late, how heartless and greedy they were.

A pound of Alaskan king crab legs and buffalo shrimp = happy Travie.