To many people virtue consists chiefly in repenting faults, not in avoiding them.

The Greeks possessed a knowledge of human nature we seem hardly able to attain to without passing through the strengthening hibernation of a new barbarism.

One might call habit a moral friction: something that prevents the mind from gliding over things but connects it with them and makes it hard for it to free itself from them.

Erudition can produce foliage without bearing fruit.

There exists a species of transcendental ventriloquism by means of which men can be made to believe that something said on earth comes from Heaven.

Just as the performance of the vilest and most wicked deeds requires spirit and talent, so even the greatest demand a certain insensitivity which under other circumstances we would call stupidity.

If there were only turnips and potatoes in the world, someone would complain that plants grow the wrong way.

Many things about our bodies would not seem to us so filthy and obscene if we did not have the idea of nobility in our heads.

To read means to borrow; to create out of one s readings is paying off one's debts.

Once we know our weaknesses they cease to do us any harm.

He who understands the wise is wise already.

By Sharing you don't become Poor . . . you become Rich. For the more you Share, the more shall you Receive.

In this vast cosmic orchestra, peace is the music of every heart. Our glory lies in understanding, listening and honoring that music.

But the kind of love that God created and demonstrated is a costly one because it involves sacrifice and presence. It's a love that operates more like a sign language than being spoken outright.

This was exhausting. If she was going to make this kind of emotional investment in someone, he should at least be a proper boyfriend. But for a casual fling? She could drive herself crazy.

For me dancing is not just moving your arms and legs but basically it's a very spiritual experience. It's part of me and a second nature to me. You can say it is in my blood.

I have been very lucky: my writing has taken me across the world, and I have seen some extraordinary sites and sights.

My passion comes from the heavens, not from earthly musings

They have actually approved a wall to certain portions of the border that hasn't even been built yet. So you could take a year building that out with what has been approved.

How can there be such anger in the minds of the gods?

I'm a very professional man. I'm not out for the experience of adventure.