Words, they say, are the food of minds. But, like other foods, they can do little by themselves.

Wisdom is when you understand what, previously, at best you only knew.

It is your duty to do your best. It is not, however, your birth-right to prevail.

Sufism is the doing in this lifetime what any fool will be doing in then thousand years’ time.

When Christianity takes itself seriously, it must either renounce or master the world.

We have work to do if you are not to be a total failure like high-waisted, acid-wash jeans.

The family spirit has rendered man carnivorous.

Most subjects at universities are taught for no other purpose than that they may be re-taught when the students become teachers.

One of the central memories of my childhood is of hunting - not well; I am a terrible shot - quail and dove and grouse on a farm on the Tennessee River.

Part of the skill of saying no is to shut up afterward and not babble on, offering material for an argument.

False hope is sometimes much worse and sometimes much better than no hope.

The day Apollo 11 landed, I knew men would walk on Mars in my lifetime. I'm no longer nearly so sure. The last budget put forward in Canada contained not a penny for Mars.

We think we can't survive without deficit spending - but we soon won't be able to survive with deficit spending, either.

Light boats sail swift, though greater hulks draw deep.