A man will speedily sit down and sympathize with a friend’s griefs, but if he sees him honored and esteemed, he is apt to regard him as a rival and does not so readily rejoice with him. This ought not to be; without effort, we ought to be happy in our brother’s happiness.

My father wasn’t a cruel man. And I loved him. But he was a pretty tough character. His own father was even tougher – one of those Victorians, hard as iron – but my dad was tough enough.

Man and animals are in reality vehicles and conduits of food, tombs of animals, hostels of Death, coverings that consume, deriving life by the death of others.

When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.

Friendship increases in visiting friends, but in visiting them seldom.

Happiness is a virtue, not its reward.

A sense of duty is useful in work but offensive in personal relations. People wish to be liked, not to be endured with patient resignation.

Many people, especially young people, would like to be more independent and on their own. But it is very difficult and they suffer from feelings of isolation. I think that is one reason why young readers support my work.

My mother was a public school teacher in Virginia, and we didn’t have any money, we just survived on happiness, on being a happy family.

If you want to know who your friends are, get yourself a jail sentence.

Sensual love deceives one as to the nature of heavenly love; it could not do so alone, but since it unconsciously has the element of heavenly love within it, it can do so.

I’m no longer just a candidate. I’m the President. I know what it means to send young Americans into battle, for I have held in my arms the mothers and fathers of those who didn’t return. I’ve shared the pain of families who’ve lost their homes, and the frustration of workers who’ve lost their jobs.

To an ordinary human being, love means nothing if it does not mean loving some people more than others.

To me, if you’re trying to impress a girl, get a date, they’re gonna like that more because you’re a confident guy. That’s what it comes down to.

Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get – only with what you are expecting to give – which is everything.

I’m pretty sure I don’t have any songs that are about how much I love someone. They’re all either about, like, ‚I hate you,‘ or ‚You make me hate me.‘

You don’t sign up for a divorce when you get married. It’s very painful. But it’s taught me a great deal about myself.

Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners, and necessity has made us allies. Those whom God has so joined together, let no man put asunder.

I like some animals more than some people, some people more than some animals.

There’s people constantly asking you for something on set, so the multi-tasking of motherhood transfers very well to being a director. And I think you’re compassionate.

I think any man who lets a woman pick what he should wear… I mean, you gotta draw the line somewhere as a man. I see these guys, ‚My wife told me to wear this!‘ And I just shake my head.

Love possesses not nor will it be possessed, for love is sufficient unto love.

As men are not able to fight against death, misery, ignorance, they have taken it into their heads, in order to be happy, not to think of them at all.

If you remember me, then I don’t care if everyone else forgets.

It no longer bothers me that I may be constantly searching for father figures; by this time, I have found several and dearly enjoyed knowing them all.

My wife, a schoolteacher, very disciplined. If you think I’m tough, trust me, and wait till you see when the children are on the naughty step. It’s hilarious. So we decided that I’m going to work like a donkey and provide amazing support for the family.

All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That’s his.

To witness two lovers is a spectacle for the gods.

It’s a tragedy, in a way, that Americans are brought up to think that they cannot feel for other people and other beings just because they are different. They think they’re different. It’s very limiting.

He who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition will waste his life in fruitless efforts.

Concentration is one of the happiest things in my life.

I have a full and satisfying life. My work and my family are very important to me.

First and foremost comes my family and my life with Brad. We have so much joy in raising our children and teaching them about the world that nothing really compares to that.

A woman can bring a new love to each man she loves, providing there are not too many.

Drink because you are happy, but never because you are miserable.

Quarrel? Nonsense; we have not quarreled. If one is not to get into a rage sometimes, what is the good of being friends?

As a Christian, you forgive, and you feed the hungry and clothe the naked, and you visit the sick and comfort the lonely. If I’m a true follower of my lord and saviour Jesus Christ, I got to do the things you’re supposed to be doing.

Sometimes it’s a form of love just to talk to somebody that you have nothing in common with and still be fascinated by their presence.

My wife and I don’t compete. We know each other’s preferences, and we work to provide those for each other. One will take over when the other is faced with something he or she dislikes. That’s what friends do.

A difference of taste in jokes is a great strain on the affections.

The funny thing is that I feel close to all my characters. Deep, deep inside them all.

You gotta understand: I believe a woman should praise the man, the king. If you holding it down for your woman, I feel like the woman should praise. And the man should praise the queen.

He who cannot give anything away cannot feel anything either.

Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light.

We have a big appetite for putting people down but, at the heart of everyone, there’s enough room for all of us to succeed.

I am just happy to be part of the Nike family.

I don’t have to ‚freedom-kiss‘ my wife when what I really want to do is French-kiss her.

I see when men love women. They give them but a little of their lives. But women when they love give everything.

Women love us for our defects. If we have enough of them, they will forgive us everything, even our gigantic intellects.

When a man laughs at his troubles he loses a great many friends. They never forgive the loss of their prerogative.

Get someone else to blow your horn and the sound will carry twice as far.

Be slow to fall into friendship; but when thou art in, continue firm and constant.

Friendship, like credit, is highest when it is not used.

When I am getting ready to reason with a man, I spend one-third of my time thinking about myself and what I am going to say and two-thirds about him and what he is going to say.

The capacity of human beings to bore one another seems to be vastly greater than that of any other animal.

Never envy a man his lady. Behind it all lays a living hell.

Ultimately, who you choose to be in a relationship with and what you do in your bedroom is your business.

If I’m not in love, if I’m not with a long-term companion, I cannot be happy.

The happiness and peace attained by those satisfied by the nectar of spiritual tranquillity is not attained by greedy persons restlessly moving here and there.

I have a dogmatic certainty: God is in every person’s life. God is in everyone’s life. Even if the life of a person has been a disaster, even if it is destroyed by vices, drugs or anything else – God is in this person’s life. You can – you must – try to seek God in every human life.

A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality. I replied with another question: ‚Tell me: when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?‘ We must always consider the person.