I would be stupid not to be on my own side. But I’m a human being, too. And I’m on the side of human beings, rather than on the side of crocodiles.

It is clear to everyone that astronomy at all events compels the soul to look upwards, and draws it from the things of this world to the other.

I’m an idealist without illusions.

I base a lot of decisions on my gut, and going with an independent label was a good one.

I don’t see the point of doing an interview unless you’re going to share the things you learn in life and the mistakes you make. So to admit that I’m extremely human and have done some dark things I don’t think makes me unusual or unusually dark. I think it actually is the right thing to do, and I’d like to think it’s the nice thing to do.

It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.

There is some self-interest behind every friendship. There is no friendship without self-interests. This is a bitter truth.

Let’s pray that the human race never escapes from Earth to spread its iniquity elsewhere.

It is more fitting for a man to laugh at life than to lament over it.

I never resist temptation, because I have found that things that are bad for me do not tempt me.

One has children in the expectation of dying before them. In fact, you want to make damn sure you die before them, just as you plant a tree or build a house knowing, hoping that it will outlive you. That’s how the human species has done as well as it has.

We will never have true civilization until we have learned to recognize the rights of others.

I don’t think culture is something you can describe.

There is nothing your highest self wants more than peace. This peace makes you feel worthy of all of the richest blessings of the universe, and when you radiate this out into the world, it is returned to you without fail.

Unless a president can protect the privacy of the advice he gets, he cannot get the advice he needs.

Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best; it removes all that is base. All men are afraid in battle. The coward is the one who lets his fear overcome his sense of duty. Duty is the essence of manhood.

Someone has to die in order that the rest of us should value life more.

As to marriage or celibacy, let a man take which course he will, he will be sure to repent.

One who is too insistent on his own views, finds few to agree with him.

There is no subject so old that something new cannot be said about it.

You’re never going to kill storytelling, because it’s built into the human plan. We come with it.

I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell.

To some extent I liken slavery to death.

Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.

We shall see but a little way if we require to understand what we see.

Money has never made man happy, nor will it, there is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more of it one has the more one wants.

It is understanding that gives us an ability to have peace. When we understand the other fellow’s viewpoint, and he understands ours, then we can sit down and work out our differences.

Every man’s life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.

North Americans don’t understand… that our country is not just Cuba; our country is also humanity.

Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a sense of humor to console him for what he is.

I can make more generals, but horses cost money.

I have talked with great men, and I do not see how they differ from others.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena.

Man is an intelligence in servitude to his organs.

The more sand has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.

When you’re around the kids, you feel like you act the most grown up just because you’re supposed to lead. I say things, like every other parent, that reminds you of your own parents. One thing I do know about being a parent, you understand why your father was in a bad mood a lot.

I don’t think you ever really know what all you’re doing, so you have to act on faith.

It is only in our decisions that we are important.

It was a Greek tragedy. Nixon was fulfilling his own nature. Once it started it could not end otherwise.

If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us shall we not revenge?

This nuclear option is ultimately an example of the arrogance of power.

The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of the divinity itself; and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power.

The self is hateful.

The greatest gift is a portion of thyself.

We have communion with Christ in His thoughts, views, and purposes; for His thoughts are our thoughts according to our capacity and sanctity. Believers take the same view of matters as Jesus does; that which pleases Him pleases them, and that which grieves His grieves them also.

The best advice comes from people who don’t give advice.

A good name is rather to be chosen than riches.

Any man may easily do harm, but not every man can do good to another.

Remember, it is not about voting for the perfect candidate – there is no such thing. Presidents are human.

If a man loses his reverence for any part of life, he will lose his reverence for all of life.

I’m very sensitive. I remember, as a kid at school, if someone in the classroom was sad or angry, it could have a great impact on me.

I bought a company in the mid-’90s called Dexter Shoe and paid $400 million for it. And it went to zero. And I gave about $400 million worth of Berkshire stock, which is probably now worth $400 billion. But I’ve made lots of dumb decisions. That’s part of the game.

This is not a bad life.

When you are young you tend to do so many things that are not needed. When you get experience, you know what exactly what works for you and you tend to do things that you want.

The Public is merely a multiplied ‚me.‘

I’m too busy acting like I’m not Naive. I’ve seen it all, I was here first.

I’ll be judged on the body of work and not the popularity of any one decision.

We can, for example, be fairly confident that either there will be a world without war or there won’t be a world – at least, a world inhabited by creatures other than bacteria and beetles, with some scattering of others.

I can honestly say that I was never affected by the question of the success of an undertaking. If I felt it was the right thing to do, I was for it regardless of the possible outcome.

For those of you who do not know Him, choosing your eternal home is the most important decision you will ever make.

Those who govern, having much business on their hands, do not generally like to take the trouble of considering and carrying into execution new projects. The best public measures are therefore seldom adopted from previous wisdom, but forced by the occasion.