The world is not run by thought, nor by imagination, but by opinion.

The test of literature is, I suppose, whether we ourselves live more intensely for the reading of it.

Too often travel, instead of broadening the mind, merely lengthens the conversations.

The torment of human frustration, whatever its immediate cause, is the knowledge that the self is in prison, its vital force and "mangled mind" leaking away in lonely, wasteful self-conflict.

Democracy, like any non-coercive relationship, rests on a shared understanding of limits.

People are more violently opposed to fur than leather because it's safer to harass rich women than motorcycle gangs. People are very inclined to set moral standards for others.

The pain of loss, moreover, however agonizing, however haunting in memory, quiets imperceptibly into acceptance as the currents of active living and of fresh emotions flow over it.

It takes two to write a letter as much as it takes two to make a quarrel.

Money buys access; access buys influence.

[On newspapers:] A first draft of history.

The Republicans’ plan is that if they can’t buy the 2012 election they will steal it.

She'd absolutely adored the library_an entire building where anyone could take things they didn't own and feel no remorse about it.

The primary purpose of a home is to reflect and to distribute the love of Christ. Anything that usurps that is idolatrous.

Being a father helps me be more responsible... you see more things than you've ever seen.

Nothing defines humans better than their willingness to do irrational things in the pursuit of phenomenally unlikely payoffs. This is the principle behind lotteries, dating, and religion.

God' is always the equivalent of 'I do not know.

Every student deserves to be treated as a potential genius.

One of the great things about turning 30 is figuring out how to dress comfortably and still look good.

I had never passed a single school exam, and clearly never would.

If I come back, it will be a place, but it won't be a home any longer.

I'll usually run an ice-cube over my skin to close all the pores. That's pretty much my daily routine.