Dogmas are collective conceptual prisons. And the strange thing is that people love their prison cells because they give them a sense of security and a false sense of ‚I know.‘ Nothing has inflicted more suffering on humanity than its dogmas.

It isn’t what you have, or who you are, or where you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about.

The young think that failure is the Siberian end of the line, banishment from all the living, and tend to do what I then did – which was to hide.

Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better.

There is only one ‚retirement plan‘ for terrorists.

People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.

Convictions are more dangerous foes of truth than lies.

If a person gets his attitude toward money straight, it will help straighten out almost every other area in his life.

I remember one parent-teacher conference at the lower school, and Barack went, and there were SWAT guys on top of the roof of the school. And Malia was like, ‚Dad, really? Really? Do they really have to be up there?‘ And it’s like, yeah, honey, they do.

The intense happiness of our union is derived in a high degree from the perfect freedom with which we each follow and declare our own impressions.

Imaginary evils soon become real one by indulging our reflections on them.

I was more independent than any farmer in Concord, for I was not anchored to a house or farm, but could follow the bent of my genius, which is a very crooked one, every moment.

Once spirit was God, then it became man, and now it is even becoming mob.

A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.

No man is free who is not master of himself.

Think big thoughts but relish small pleasures.

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.

It’s good to remember that in crises, natural crises, human beings forget for awhile their ignorances, their biases, their prejudices. For a little while, neighbors help neighbors and strangers help strangers.

Property is intended to serve life, and no matter how much we surround it with rights and respect, it has no personal being. It is part of the earth man walks on. It is not man.

To make headway, improve your head.

Consciously or unconsciously most of us adhere to what is expected of our role because we realize our social success depends on this. Some may refuse to play this game, but in the end they are marginalized and forced to play the outsider role, with limited options and decreasing freedom as they get older.

And every human being is precious.

Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty.

When one door is closed, don’t you know, another is open.

I find only freedom in the realms of eccentricity.

Needing to have things perfect is the surest way to immobilize yourself with frustration.

We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them.

I am prepared for the worst, but hope for the best.

I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.

I don’t have freedom in the United States to go into a public school and preach the Gospel, nor is a student free in a public school to pray, or a teacher free to read the Bible publicly to the students. At the same time, we have a great degree of freedom for which I am grateful.

I don’t believe in astrology; I’m a Sagittarius and we’re skeptical.

I could have spent eight years doing anything, and at some level, it would have been fine. I could have focused on flowers. I could have focused on decor. I could have focused on entertainment. Because any First Lady, rightfully, gets to define her role. There’s no legislative authority; you’re not elected. And that’s a wonderful gift of freedom.

Little minds are interested in the extraordinary; great minds in the commonplace.

What is ominous is the ease with which some people go from saying that they don’t like something to saying that the government should forbid it. When you go down that road, don’t expect freedom to survive very long.

We all have wings, but they have not been of any avail to us and if we could tear them off, we would do so.

I have a self-defense mind. I’ve had it all my life.

To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to.

Every family should have the right to spend their money, after tax, as they wish, and not as the government dictates. Let us extend choice, extend the will to choose and the chance to choose.

A flippant, frivolous man may ridicule others, may controvert them, scorn them; but he who has any respect for himself seems to have renounced the right of thinking meanly of others.

I think that when we know that we actually do live in uncertainty, then we ought to admit it; it is of great value to realize that we do not know the answers to different questions. This attitude of mind – this attitude of uncertainty – is vital to the scientist, and it is this attitude of mind which the student must first acquire.

Superstition is the poetry of life.

Always take hold of things by the smooth handle.

Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it.

Don’t look forward to the day you stop suffering, because when it comes you’ll know you’re dead.

Wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is also a love of humanity.

Success is not to be pursued; it is to be attracted by the person you become.

I’m an idealist without illusions.

Freedom is a possession of inestimable value.

I believe that it is better to tell the truth than a lie. I believe it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe it is better to know than to be ignorant.

He who seeks rest finds boredom. He who seeks work finds rest.

If you must tell me your opinions, tell me what you believe in. I have plenty of doubts of my own.

I die adoring God, loving my friends, not hating my enemies, and detesting superstition.

It’s not ‚can‘; it’s ‚will.‘ You have to will things into fruition.

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.

Emotion creates reality, reality demands action.

Absence and death are the same – only that in death there is no suffering.

There’s a silly notion that failure’s not an option at NASA. Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.

I’d rather be optimistic and wrong than pessimistic and right.

There’s a reason that I have confidence out there, and it’s about how I prepare for games and for series and seasons and whatnot, so we’ve got to stick with that kind of thought process.

I abhor war and view it as the greatest scourge of mankind.

We can’t allow the world’s worst leaders to blackmail, threaten, hold freedom-loving nations hostage with the world’s worst weapons.