To blend, without coercion, the individual good and the common good is the essence of citizenship in a free country.

If a political party does not have its foundation in the determination to advance a cause that is right and that is moral, then it is not a political party; it is merely a conspiracy to seize power.

For every obstacle there is a solution. Persistence is the key. The greatest mistake is giving up!

The middle of the road is all of the usable surface. The extremes, right and left, are in the gutters.

Leadership consists of nothing but taking responsibility for everything that goes wrong and giving your subordinates credit for everything that goes well.

The supreme quality of leadership is integrity.

If you want total security, go to prison. There you're fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking... is freedom.

A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.

You don't lead by hitting people over the head - that's assault, not leadership.

Always try to associate yourself with and learn as much as you can from those who know more than you do, who do better than you, who see more clearly than you.

To be true to one's own freedom is, in essence, to honor and respect the freedom of all others.

Maybe you're one of those people who writes poems, but rarely reads them. Let me put this as delicately as I can: If you don't read, your writing is going to suck.

Success is like water, the more thirsty you are for it is the more you will drink it, and you'll need it forever to survive.

If valleys are the dimples on the face of the earth, as Steven King once said, then Silicon Valley is the deepest, most sparkling dimple of them all.

It's great to be self confident, but some people are very egotistical. Once you realize the world doesn't revolve around you and change your attitude, you'll truly walk in your purpose.

I have laughed, in bitterness and agony of heart, at the contrast between what I seem and what I am!

I can get bored with any show, when it goes on too long.

I often make movies that involve depression or deep holes of sadness, although there are also these other great things in 'New Moon,' like this epic set-piece at the end of the film in Italy.

Two girls discover the secret of life in a sudden line of poetry.

Come landlord fill a flowing bowl until it does run over, Tonight we will all merry be--tomorrow we'll get sober.

I know there's Brooklyn and all the boroughs, but Manhattan specifically is so condensed that the energy is very vibrant. Everywhere you look there is something happening.