How does it become a man to behave towards the American government today? I answer, that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it.

The superior man does not, even for the space of a single meal, act contrary to virtue. In moments of haste, he cleaves to it. In seasons of danger, he cleaves to it.

Wisdom does not show itself so much in precept as in life – in firmness of mind and a mastery of appetite. It teaches us to do as well as to talk; and to make our words and actions all of a color.

I don’t like freeloaders; I don’t like people who are negative.

The moral disapprobation of society has an impact on behavior in societies.

Everybody, to some extent, manipulates. Even children learn to cry when they want something. There are all kinds of subtle things we do to get others to follow our lead, not bother us, and so on.

Every act you have ever performed since the day you were born was performed because you wanted something.

He does it with better grace, but I do it more natural.

Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?

You’ve gotta be very careful that grace and politeness do not merge into a banality of behavior, where we’re just nice, sort of ‚death by cupcake.‘

Lenience will operate with greater force, in some instances than rigor. It is therefore my first wish to have all of my conduct distinguished by it.

Somewhere it is written that parents who are critical of other people’s children and publicly admit they can do better are asking for it.

Some men have a necessity to be mean, as if they were exercising a faculty which they had to partially neglect since early childhood.

The way you see people is the way you treat them, and the way you treat them is what they become.

Reproach is shame, blame, disgrace, disapproval and a disrespectful attitude toward yourself. When you’re under reproach, your behavior shows it.

There is nothing in which people more betray their character than in what they laugh at.

An Englishman thinks he is moral when he is only uncomfortable.

I’m quite a chauvinistic person.

I have always had a talent for irritating women since I was fourteen.

Man seems to be the only animal whose food soils him, making necessary much washing and shield-like bibs and napkins. Moles living in the earth and eating slimy worms are yet as clean as seals or fishes, whose lives are one perpetual wash.

I’m just going to say it: I’m pro-guilt. Guilt is good. Guilt helps us stay on track because it’s about our behavior. It occurs when we compare something we’ve done – or failed to do – with our personal values.

If you are a parent, you have probably already realized that your children are always watching what you do. And just as children watch their parents and emulate their behavior, so do employees who are watching their bosses.

If you would convince a man that he does wrong, do right. Men will believe what they see.

Not always actions show the man; we find who does a kindness is not therefore kind.

Some people feel affronted when something they thought to be true doesn’t happen. If that’s the case, then your sense of risk is much higher, and that leads to risk aversion. You need to be able to be comfortable in uncertainty.

There is a courtesy of the heart; it is allied to love. From its springs the purest courtesy in the outward behavior.

Silence speaks so much louder than screaming tantrums. Never give anyone an excuse to say that you’re crazy.

Why does your mind conform? Have you ever asked? Are you aware that you are conforming to a pattern? It doesn’t matter what that pattern is, whether you have established a pattern for yourself or it has been established for you.

Personal columnists are jackals and no jackal has been known to live on grass once he had learned about meat – no matter who killed the meat for him.

Every action needs to be prompted by a motive.

He is a drunkard who takes more than three glasses though he be not drunk.

Actions are visible, though motives are secret.

I’m mischievous, but I’m calculated.

Some people are jerks, and some people aren’t.

When I was a kid, I never did funny things to get attention. I was never a funny person. I was never, like, ‚Oh, wow. I could say this some day on stage.‘

When the dog looks at you, the dog is not thinking what kind of a person you are. The dog is not judging you.

People who eat with their mouth open should be punched in the face.

A man only learns in two ways, one by reading, and the other by association with smarter people.

Don’t create more enemies than you take out by some immoral act.

A bore is a person who opens his mouth and puts his feats in it.

The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.

An association of men who will not quarrel with one another is a thing which has never yet existed, from the greatest confederacy of nations down to a town meeting or a vestry.

Juvenile crime is not naturally born in the boy, but is largely due either to the spirit of adventure that is in him, to his own stupidity, or to his lack of discipline, according to the nature of the individual.

People who think too much before they act don’t act too much.

When new turns of behavior cease to appear in the life of the individual, its behavior ceases to be intelligent.

It is perfectly possible to live a very moral life without a belief in God, and I think it’s perfectly possible to live a life peppered with ill-doing and believe in God.

Our judgments when we are pleased and friendly are not the same as when we are pained and hostile.

Extremely religious, legalistic people have a criticism or judgment about everyone and everything. They just have a way of bringing people down with what they say.

We are justified in enforcing good morals, for they belong to all mankind; but we are not justified in enforcing good manners, for good manners always mean our own manners.

Those who have virtue always in their mouths, and neglect it in practice, are like a harp, which emits a sound pleasing to others, while itself is insensible of the music.

I don’t do any vulgar movements.

When you’re young, you’re very reckless. Then you get conservative. Then you get reckless again.

I’m not the kind of cat that’s going to cut off an ear if I can’t do something.

It’s a disgrace that we have millions of people who are uninsured.

Immorality: the morality of those who are having a better time.

The savage in man is never quite eradicated.

Ritual is another word for fear, manifested in a different way.

So much of what we do every single day is the result of habits that we have formed over time.

There are some people who need to wear a label round their necks to show that they are Christians at all, or else we might mistake them for sinners, their actions are so like those of the ungodly.

Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book.

Even if a snake is not poisonous, it should pretend to be venomous.