Why is it that reality, when set down untransposed in a book, sounds false?

Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.

We must not wish for the disappearance of our troubles but for the grace to transform them.

Pain and suffering are a kind of currency passed from hand to hand until they reach someone who receives them but does not pass them on.

There are only two things that pierce the human heart. One is beauty. The other is affliction.

If you want to know what a man is really like, take notice of how he acts when he loses money.

A hurtful act is the transference to others of the degradation which we bear in ourselves.

There is one, and only one, thing in modern society more hideous than crime namely, repressive justice.

The joy of learning is as indispensable in study as breathing is in running.

Equality is the public recognition, effectively expressed in institutions and manners, of the principle that an equal degree of attention is due to the needs of all human beings.

More than in any other performing arts the lack of respect for acting seems to spring from the fact that every layman considers himself a valid critic.

God determines the goals of the prosperity before giving prosperity to His children.

If you really want something you can figure out how to make it happen.

Writing is above all a question of instinct.

I love the unabashed over-buttered, over-creamed, deep-fried, gooey, over-sugared excessiveness of Amish food.

I cannot tolerate my bad behavior in another person for 10 seconds

The advance of freedom is the great story of our time

I've always believed the two best anti-poverty programs are work and marriage.

An enemy despised is the most dangerous of all enemies.

Our eyes reflect light. Better that the lips are more like a rose petal.