What a man is contributes much more to his happiness than what he has or how he is regarded by others.

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.

It is difficult to find happiness within oneself, but it is impossible to find it anywhere else.

The majority of men... are not capable of thinking, but only of believing, and... are not accessible to reason, but only to authority.

Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.

A man can be himself only so long as he is alone; and if he does not love solitude, he will not love freedom; for it is only when he is alone that he is really free.

Man is the only animal who causes pain to others with no other object than wanting to do so.

Genius and madness have something in common: both live in a world that is different from that which exists for everyone else.

A pessimist is an optimist in full possession of the facts.

Religions are like fireflies. They require darkness in order to shine.

Nature shows that with the growth of intelligence comes increased capacity for pain, and it is only with the highest degree of intelligence that suffering reaches its supreme point.

The present will not long endure.

A hedge between keeps friendships green.

A promise must never be broken.

What would demons," she said, "want with our microwave?

Kerouac: You're ruining American poetry, O'Hara. O'Hara: That's more than you ever did for it, Kerouac

Traitors who prevail are patriots; usurpers who succeed are divine emperors.

I can't constantly be trying to write the unwritten song, the song that the 15-year-old girl needs. I need to write the song that I need.

I will always appreciate 'American Idol,' and I never forget about where I come from.

Most of the, or I should say many of the negro leaders actually suffer themselves from an inferiority complex even though they say they don't.

I love playing Chekhov. That's the hardest; that's why I love it most.