As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy.

The proper study of Mankind is Man.

When you are spiritually connected, you are not looking for occasions to be offended, and you are not judging and labeling others. You are in a state of grace in which you know you are connected to God and thus free from the effects of anyone or anything external to yourself.

It is not necessary that whilst I live I live happily; but it is necessary that so long as I live I should live honourably.

Excess of liberty, whether it lies in state or individuals, seems only to pass into excess of slavery.

Our soul is cast into a body, where it finds number, time, dimension. Thereupon it reasons, and calls this nature necessity, and can believe nothing else.

Dogmatism and skepticism are both, in a sense, absolute philosophies; one is certain of knowing, the other of not knowing. What philosophy should dissipate is certainty, whether of knowledge or ignorance.

Is man one of God’s blunders? Or is God one of man’s blunders?

We all want to be famous people, and the moment we want to be something we are no longer free.

Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing. And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb. And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.

There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.

It is the eye of other people that ruin us. If I were blind I would want, neither fine clothes, fine houses or fine furniture.

As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods; they kill us for their sport.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

Racism and sexism, misogyny and homophobia, they’re so visible. They’re out in the open. When they’re visible, it’s a lot easier to deal with them.

Man the individual consoles himself for his passing with the thought of the offspring or the works which he leaves behind.

The objective I propose is quite simple to state: to foster the infrastructure of democracy – the system of a free press, unions, political parties, universities – which allows a people to choose their own way to develop their own culture, to reconcile their own differences through peaceful means.

Where you live in the world should not determine whether you live in the world.

It is not living that matters, but living rightly.

Nothing can be beautiful which is not true.

Religion is the frozen thought of man out of which they build temples.

Experience without theory is blind, but theory without experience is mere intellectual play.

Satisfaction consists in freedom from pain, which is the positive element of life.

It is sadder to find the past again and find it inadequate to the present than it is to have it elude you and remain forever a harmonious conception of memory.

For one swallow does not make a summer, nor does one day; and so too one day, or a short time, does not make a man blessed and happy.

Wisdom is found only in truth.

The infliction of cruelty with a good conscience is a delight to moralists. That is why they invented Hell.

I have thought there was some advantage even in death, by which we mingle with the herd of common men.

All I’m for is the liberty of the individual.

The magistrates are the ministers for the laws, the judges their interpreters, the rest of us are servants of the law, that we all may be free.

The United Nations is designed to make possible lasting freedom and independence for all its members.

If we do discover a complete theory, it should be in time understandable in broad principle by everyone. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists, and just ordinary people be able to take part in the discussion of why we and the universe exist.

Do not do unto others as you expect they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same.

For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.

Our object in the construction of the state is the greatest happiness of the whole, and not that of any one class.

Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.

A trifle consoles us, for a trifle distresses us.

A good wife is one who serves her husband in the morning like a mother does, loves him in the day like a sister does and pleases him like a prostitute in the night.

Hiding places there are innumerable, escape is only one, but possibilities of escape, again, are as many as hiding places.

For me, it’s about becoming a mogul, owning my own projects, and establishing myself as a funding producer. That’s what’s big to me. The movies and all that stuff are great, but the fact that I’m in a position to do what I want to do, however I want to do it and when I want to do it is bigger.

There is no such thing as Something for nothing.

Toleration is good for all, or it is good for none.

Freedom is never dear at any price. It is the breath of life. What would a man not pay for living?

If I were a Negro, I’d be fighting, as Martin Luther King fought, for human recognition and justice. I’d rather go down with my flag flying. If you’re weak or crippled, or you can’t speak out or fight back in some way, then people don’t hesitate to treat you badly.

When I was a child I asked my mother what homosexuality was about and she said – and this was 100 years ago in Germany and she was very open-minded – ‚It’s like hair color. It’s nothing. Some people are blond and some people have dark hair. It’s not a subject.‘ This was a very healthy attitude.

Paradise was made for tender hearts; hell, for loveless hearts.

I groan daily under a body of sin and corruption. Oh for the time when I shall drop this flesh, and be free from sin!

At any street corner the feeling of absurdity can strike any man in the face.

A man who suffers before it is necessary, suffers more than is necessary.

Freedom is relative.

Those who do not know how to live must make a merit of dying.

The state comes into existence for the sake of life and continues to exist for the sake of good life.

All our knowledge has its origins in our perceptions.

Who is more to be pitied, a writer bound and gagged by policemen or one living in perfect freedom who has nothing more to say?

What do I care about the purring of one who cannot love, like the cat?

Chance is a word void of sense; nothing can exist without a cause.

Nature puts no question and answers none which we mortals ask. She has long ago taken her resolution.

There is more wisdom in your body than in your deepest philosophy.

Plato is my friend; Aristotle is my friend, but my greatest friend is truth.

If man made himself the first object of study, he would see how incapable he is of going further. How can a part know the whole?

We will not be intimidated or pushed off the world stage by people who do not like what we stand for, and that is, freedom, democracy and the fight against disease, poverty and terrorism.