When the war started, religion and superstition (whatever the difference is) permeated the lives of ordinary soldiers, who lived in a thought world not too far removed from the seventeenth century.

Much to my surprise, the Islamic scriptures in the Quran were actually far less bloody and less violent than those in the Bible.

Just because many modern academics are very secular does not mean that we should ignore those factors in earlier generations - and by that, I don't just mean five or six centuries ago.

In any theological struggle, the first thousand years are always the bitterest.

Human decency is not derived from religion. It precedes it.

Purpose is the ultimate reason for your existence.

When you lose someone who's as close as your own skin, the only place you can find him again is hidden inside your memories.

Do you understand economics? I mean big-time, prewar, global capitalism. Do you get how it worked? I don't, and anyone who says they do is full of shit.

Adversity causes some men to break others to break records.

I won't do anything for money. I won't compromise my manhood.

The test of a good idea is its ability to last through a hangover

In the great undertakings, there is glory, even in failure.

Peace of mind produces right values, right values produce right thoughts. Right thoughts produce right actions.

He's carrying his left leg, which, to be honest, is his only leg.