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

I don’t think there is any philosophy that suggests having polio is a good thing.

I draw from the Absurd three consequences: my revolt, my liberty, my passion.

All our knowledge has its origins in our perceptions.

The philosophical idea that there are no more distances, that we are all just one world, that we are all brothers, is such a drag! I like differences.

You can’t deny laughter; when it comes, it plops down in your favorite chair and stays as long as it wants.

It has always been a mystery to me how men can feel themselves honoured by the humiliation of their fellow beings.

Love is anterior to life, posterior to death, initial of creation, and the exponent of breath.

You’re born. You suffer. You die. Fortunately, there’s a loophole.

You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad.

My philosophy is, it’s always very rewarding when you can make an audience laugh. I don’t mind making fun of myself. I like self-deprecating comedy. But I’d like you to laugh with me occasionally, too.

We can take a ‚It was hard to get there.‘ But we ain’t taking no loss. We’re going to win.

I’m sorry, it’s true. Having children really changes your view on these things. We’re born, we live for a brief instant, and we die. It’s been happening for a long time. Technology is not changing it much – if at all.

We do not need to proselytise either by our speech or by our writing. We can only do so really with our lives. Let our lives be open books for all to study.

Good men by nature, wish to know. I know that many will call this useless work… men who desire nothing but material riches and are absolutely devoid of that of wisdom, which is the food and only true riches of the mind.

I was brought up differently than the average American child because the average child is brought up expecting to be happy.

Don’t ever criticize yourself. Don’t go around all day long thinking, ‚I’m unattractive, I’m slow, I’m not as smart as my brother.‘ God wasn’t having a bad day when he made you… If you don’t love yourself in the right way, you can’t love your neighbour. You can’t be as good as you are supposed to be.

Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.

I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done.

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

Let us read and let us dance – two amusements that will never do any harm to the world.

The wise man does not expose himself needlessly to danger, since there are few things for which he cares sufficiently; but he is willing, in great crises, to give even his life – knowing that under certain conditions it is not worthwhile to live.

Knowledge of what is does not open the door directly to what should be.

The measure of a life, after all, is not its duration, but its donation.

Convictions are more dangerous foes of truth than lies.

To do all that one is able to do, is to be a man; to do all that one would like to do, is to be a god.

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.

Life cannot subsist in society but by reciprocal concessions.

In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they’re still beautiful.

For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.

There is in general good reason to suppose that in several respects the gods could all benefit from instruction by us human beings. We humans are – more humane.

When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That’s relativity.

There are only two things. Truth and lies. Truth is indivisible, hence it cannot recognize itself; anyone who wants to recognize it has to be a lie.

Freedom is relative.

To a profound pessimist about life, being in danger is not depressing.

God is cruel. Sometimes he makes you live.

What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.

Like a pianist runs her fingers over the keys, I’ll search my mind for what to say. Now, the poem may want you to write it. And then sometimes you see a situation and think, ‚I’d like to write about that.‘ Those are two different ways of being approached by a poem, or approaching a poem.

A leader is a dealer in hope.

Who shall decide when doctors disagree, And soundest casuists doubt, like you and me?

Whether for life or death, do your own work well.

Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.

Fun is one of the most important – and underrated – ingredients in any successful venture. If you’re not having fun, then it’s probably time to call it quits and try something else.

Risk is a part of God’s game, alike for men and nations.

Be a force of love as often as you can and turn away negative thoughts whenever you feel them surface.

People who make history know nothing about history. You can see that in the sort of history they make.

The fact is that since you’re a divine creation who originated in the world of Spirit, you have exactly the right amount of smarts to accomplish all that you need and want to do while you’re here on earth. It’s all perfect… and so are you!

I’m seeing the world partially through the eyes of a kid. Not all the time. There’s no black and white to it. But sometimes I’m seeing it like I’m 4.

Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see.

Success in life is founded upon attention to the small things rather than to the large things; to the every day things nearest to us rather than to the things that are remote and uncommon.

We are in a wrong state of mind if we are not in a thankful state of mind.

You must understand the whole of life, not just one little part of it. That is why you must read, that is why you must look at the skies, that is why you must sing and dance, and write poems and suffer and understand, for all that is life.

A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties.

This life, which had been the tomb of his virtue and of his honour, is but a walking shadow; a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

There’s place and means for every man alive.

A man can do what he wants, but not want what he wants.

They tell us that suicide is the greatest piece of cowardice… that suicide is wrong; when it is quite obvious that there is nothing in the world to which every man has a more unassailable title than to his own life and person.

There is no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.

There are as many pillows of illusion as flakes in a snow-storm. We wake from one dream into another dream.

Fun is good.

Some people regard private enterprise as a predatory tiger to be shot. Others look on it as a cow they can milk. Not enough people see it as a healthy horse, pulling a sturdy wagon.