We know that the exercise of virtue should be its own reward, and it seems to follow that the enduring of it on the part of the patient should be its own punishment.

The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.

The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.

The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.

Men are born ignorant, not stupid. They are made stupid by education.

An Honest politician will not be tolerated by a democracy unless he is very stupid ... because only a very stupid man can honestly share the prejudices of more than half the nation.

If there were in the world today any large number of people who desired their own happiness more than they desired the unhappiness of others, we could have a paradise in a few years.

We have in fact, two kinds of morality, side by side: one which we preach, but do not practice, and another which we practice, but seldom preach.

The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd.

Cruel men believe in a cruel god and use their belief to excuse their cruelty. Only kindly men believe in a kindly god, and they would be kindly in any case.

The Sufi must be able to alternate his thought between the relative and the Absolute, the approximate and the Real.

If you talk to God you are praying if God talks to you you have schizophrenia.

You have to give them unconditional love. They need to know that even if they screw up, you love them. You don't want them to grow up and resent you or, even worse, parent the way you parented them.

Yes, social friend, I love thee well, In learned doctor's spite; Thy clouds all other clouds dispel And lap me in delight.

No condition outside ourselves can create a rut or trap us in it. It's impossible.

Don’t use your energy to worry. Use your energy to believe.

If everything that existed were continually being photographed, every photograph would become meaningless.

My mom always said I liked to stir the pot with a glittering spoon.

Part of a horror movie has to be a bit fakey for me to really enjoy it. The new ones are so realistic that they distract me from the ride through the horror.

I've always found that avoiding insanity is useful in life - which in American politics sometimes puts one in the minority.