[The] discretion of the judge is the first engine of tyranny . . .

And the winds and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.

Imam Hussain's sacrifice is for all groups and communities, an example of the path of rightousness.

I never make the mistake of arguing with people for whose opinions I have no respect.

The various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world were all considered by the people as equally true; by the philosopher as equally false; and by the magistrate as equally useful.

And thus toleration produced not only mutual indulgence, but even religious concord. The superstition of the people was not embittered theological rancor.

Let us read with method, and propose to ourselves an end to which our studies may point. The use of reading is to aid us in thinking.

In the end, they wanted security more than they wanted freedom.

Conversation enriches the understanding, but solitude is the school of genius.

Vicissitudes of fortune, which spares neither man nor the proudest of his works, which buries empires and cities in a common grave.

We improve ourselves by victories over ourselves. There must be contest, and we must win.

Justine's virtue, in action, is the liberal lie in action, a good heart and an inadequate methodology.

God does not require you to follow His leadings on blind trust. Behold the evidence of an invisible intelligence pervading everything, even your own mind and body.

The man who cannot endure to have his errors and shortcomings brought to the surface and made known, but tries to hide them, is unfit to walk the highway of truth.

It seemed to him a very Edinburgh thing. Welcoming, but not very.

Our ideas of self are created by identification. The less we cling to ideas of self, the freer and happier we will be.

I think it takes a long time, as you get older, to realize just how crazy the world is, just how ridiculous it all is.

Fear has a smell, as love does.

The boy that you loved is the man that you fear.

The saddest songs are written when a person is happy.

If you think there are no new frontiers, watch a boy ring the front doorbell on his first date.