If you must speak ill of another, do not speak it, write it in the sand near the water’s edge.

People have to talk about something just to keep their voice boxes in working order so they’ll have good voice boxes in case there’s ever anything really meaningful to say.

When I was two, a dragonfly flew near me. A man knocked it to the ground and trod on it. I remember crying because I’d caused the dragonfly to be killed.

I have no faith in human perfectability. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active – not more happy – nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago.

All our knowledge begins with the senses, proceeds then to the understanding, and ends with reason. There is nothing higher than reason.

To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead.

I would rather try to persuade a man to go along, because once I have persuaded him, he will stick. If I scare him, he will stay just as long as he is scared, and then he is gone.

So there’s no guarantee if you like the music you will empathize with the culture and the people who made it. It doesn’t necessarily happen. I think it can, but it doesn’t necessarily happen. Which is kind of a shame.

Twice and thrice over, as they say, good is it to repeat and review what is good.

Kids who have an understanding of how and why their feelings are what they are are much more likely to talk to us about what’s happening, and they have better skills to work it out.

Self-sacrifice enables us to sacrifice other people without blushing.

No person who is well bred, kind and modest is ever offensively plain; all real deformity means want for manners or of heart.

Love grows by giving. The love we give away is the only love we keep. The only way to retain love is to give it away.

He who does not trust enough, Will not be trusted.

I’m really bad with answering questions. Usually, I don’t even answer them. I try to find inspiration inside of the question. I think, and I jump from one beam of inspiration or energy to the next, as opposed to explaining the energy.

I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.

I believe that every human mind feels pleasure in doing good to another.

Mirth is like a flash of lightning, that breaks through a gloom of clouds, and glitters for a moment; cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind, and fills it with a steady and perpetual serenity.

Old age: the crown of life, our play’s last act.

Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything wise in this world.

See things from the boy’s point of view.

Take time for all things: great haste makes great waste.

We must, all of us, learn actually not to have enemies, but only confused adversaries who are ourselves in disguise.

The only way I hear gossip is if it’s big enough and loud enough for my friends to bring it up to me. Or if it’s, like, a big untrue ordeal from my publicist – and she hates making that phone call!

When you hear people making hateful comments, stand up to them. Point out what a waste it is to hate, and you could open their eyes.

Time was when they that feared the Lord spake often to one another; I am afraid that now they more often speak one against another.

It is well for the world that in most of us, by the age of thirty, the character has set like plaster, and will never soften again.

We cannot wish for that we know not.

Step with care and great tact, and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act.

They must often change, who would be constant in happiness or wisdom.

I have an answering machine in my car. It says, I’m home now. But leave a message and I’ll call when I’m out.

My lectures, based on Islamic teachings, were on various subjects. Some of the titles were, ‚The Intoxication of Life,‘ ‚The Purpose of Life,‘ ‚The Real Cause of Man’s Distress,‘ ‚The Journey to the Goal in Life,‘ and, one of my favorites, ‚The Heart of Man.‘ They contained important insights that spoke to something deep inside me.

One today is worth two tomorrows.

No one means all he says, and yet very few say all they mean, for words are slippery and thought is viscous.

Before I look stupid and not know what a word means or how to pronounce it, I’ll stop the whole production: ‚Hey, real quick, guys. Define this word for me. Somebody.‘

Governing a great nation is like cooking a small fish – too much handling will spoil it.

As I approve of a youth that has something of the old man in him, so I am no less pleased with an old man that has something of the youth. He that follows this rule may be old in body, but can never be so in mind.

If one way be better than another, that you may be sure is nature’s way.

I’d rather learn from one bird how to sing than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance.

When a politician uses the word ‚folks,‘ we should brace ourselves for the deceit, or worse, that is coming.

Brevity is a great charm of eloquence.

Facebook and Instagram are both really popular with teens, both in the U.S. and globally across the world. I think what you’re starting to see is that there are all these different ways that people want to share and communicate.

Hatreds not vowed and concealed are to be feared more than those openly declared.

There is nothing so absurd that some philosopher has not already said it.

There are people who can do all fine and heroic things but one – keep from telling their happiness to the unhappy.

The poorest people are the sweetest people.

Truth emerges more readily from error than from confusion.

Strength and compassion are not mutually exclusive.

Be as polite to the custodian as you are to the chairman of the board.

I’m blessed to have such a tight-knit family that we can talk about anything. Whether we talk frequently or not, since we’re on separate ends of the country, there are a lot of moving parts, and we always stay tight and find that center ground that keeps us together.

Truth is a deep kindness that teaches us to be content in our everyday life and share with the people the same happiness.

True virtue is life under the direction of reason.

We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.

Insults are the arguments employed by those who are in the wrong.

Some animals utter a loud cry. Some are silent, and others have a voice, which in some cases may be expressed by a word; in others, it cannot. There are also noisy animals and silent animals, musical and unmusical kinds, but they are mostly noisy about the breeding season.

All philosophy lies in two words, sustain and abstain.

It seems to never occur to fools that merit and good fortune are closely united.

We are braver and wiser because they existed, those strong women and strong men… We are who we are because they were who they were. It’s wise to know where you come from, who called your name.

I speak a number of languages, but none are more beautiful to me than English.

But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.

Above all, always be capable of feeling deeply any injustice committed against anyone, anywhere in the world. This is the most beautiful quality in a revolutionary.