there is no independence and pertinacity of opinion like that of these seemingly soft, quiet creatures, whom it is so easy to silence, and so difficult to convince.

Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.

The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.

It's a matter of taking the side of the weak against the strong, something the best people have always done.

Whipping and abuse are like laudanum: you have to double the dose as the sensibilities decline.

The truth is the kindest thing we can give folks in the end.

No ornament of a house can compare with books; they are constant company in a room, even when you are not reading them.

So much has been said and sung of beautiful young girls, why doesn't somebody wake up to the beauty of old women.

I feel now that the time is come when even a woman or a child who can speak a word for freedom and humanity is bound to speak... I hope every woman who can write will not be silent.

Talk of the abuses of slavery! Humbug! The thing itself is the essence of all abuse!

The past, the present and the future are really one: they are today.

Idiosyncrasy and vicissitude had combined to stamp Sergeant Troy as an exceptional being.

We're all just animals. That's all we are, and everything else is just an elaborate justification of our instincts. That's where music comes from. And romantic poetry. And bad novels.

Drinking every night because we drink to my accomplishments.

You shouldn't wait for other people to make special things happen. You have to create your own memories.

Theory, from whatever source, is not perfect until it is reduced to practice.

It is not that people are evil or greedy. The conditions that socially support the system force us to behave in socially offensive ways.

There is a communication of more than our bodies when bread is broken and wine is drunk. And that is my answer when people ask me: Why do you write about hunger, and not wars or love.

On certain continents poverty is more spiritual than material, a poverty that consists of loneliness, discouragement, and the lack of meaning in life.

Knowledge indeed is a desirable, a lovely possession.

This book should be read as one would read the book of a dead man.