The most curious social convention of the great age in which we live is the one to the effect that religious opinions should be respected.

Love is like war: easy to begin but very hard to stop.

On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.

The demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots.

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

Morality is doing what is right, no matter what you are told. Religion is doing what you are told, no matter what is right.

Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.

Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.

The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule.

It is inaccurate to say that I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office.

Democracy is also a form of worship. It is the worship of Jackals by Jackasses.

A soul without kindness is like a garden without plants and flowers.

A man loves his sweetheart the most his wife the best but his mother the longest.

I think I went to Italy initially for the art, architecture, food and history, but I stayed there because of the people in Cortona.

When the bull's-eye becomes as big in your mind as an elephant, you are sure to hit it.

Colors close together on the color wheel are analogous and will make a calm room. Colors that are farther apart are complementary and add drama.

Testing children until they cry is a bad idea. It is an educational malpractice.

The older Ive gotten, the more I try to stay out of the gym.

I was taught early on in my recovery that, 'Pain is good. Extreme pain is extremely good.'

So even if the hot loneliness is there, and for 1.6 seconds we sit with that restlessness when yesterday we couldn't sit for even one, that's the journey of the warrior. (68)

Life isn't that simple. Everybody has a dual potential to do good and bad and you're capable of doing both. But as to whether someone is beyond redemption, they're dangerous.