The total absence of humor from the Bible is one of the most singular things in all literature.

No one who achieves success does so without acknowledging the help of others. The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude.

The art of progress is to preserve order amid change and to preserve change amid order.

If a dog jumps into your lap, it is because he is fond of you; but if a cat does the same thing, it is because your lap is warmer.

There are no whole truths: All truths are half-truths.

Not ignorance, but ignorance of ignorance, is the death of knowledge.

Religion is the last refuge of human savagery.

Philosophy begins in wonder. And, at the end, when philosophic thought has done its best, the wonder remains.

...the self-satisfied dogmatism with which mankind at each period of its history cherishes the delusion of the finality of existing modes of knowledge.

Knowledge shrinks as wisdom grows.

Symbolism is no mere idle fancy or corrupt degeneration: it is inherent in the very texture of human life.

Never give up on yourself.You have divine abilities for a great mission.

He had probably been thrown out of a wine shop, and it hadn't quite dawned on him yet.

I did not die, and yet I lost life’s breath

No character is ultimately tested until it has suffered.

When guests enter the room their entertainers rise to receive them; and in all meetings men should ascend into their higher selves, imparting to one another only the best they know and love.

I like to express myself creatively and it doesn't matter the medium. Whatever medium I choose at that moment, whatever works the best.

If all you leave in the library is books that you think speak to everyone, what are you going to have? You'd have nothing.

Of the female black authors, I really like Morrison's early books a lot. But she's really become so much a clone of Faulkner. He did it better.

As a kid, I loved being loved, and still do. Who doesn't love being loved?

If I had free time to go to Los Angeles to shoot a movie, I would rather spend it with my kids.