Society can overlook murder, adultery or swindling; it never forgives preaching of a new gospel.

If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.

A bookstore is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking.

We need to show mercy. I mean, because as much mercy as you show people, that’s the mercy you’re going to be receiving.

The community which has neither poverty nor riches will always have the noblest principles.

I am a Christian, and the Bible teaches me to forgive.

To terrify children with the image of hell… to consider women an inferior creation. Is that good for the world?

In December, I agreed to extend the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans because it was the only way I could prevent a tax hike on middle-class Americans. But we cannot afford $1 trillion worth of tax cuts for every millionaire and billionaire in our society. We can’t afford it. And I refuse to renew them again.

It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive. Forgive everybody.

Justice in the life and conduct of the State is possible only as first it resides in the hearts and souls of the citizens.

It is change, continuing change, inevitable change, that is the dominant factor in society today. No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be.

We have an epidemic of insecure people in our society today.

I suppose society is wonderfully delightful. To be in it is merely a bore. But to be out of it is simply a tragedy.

The paradox of education is precisely this – that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated.

Both free speech rights and property rights belong legally to individuals, but their real function is social, to benefit vast numbers of people who do not themselves exercise these rights.

As in geology, so in social institutions, we may discover the causes of all past changes in the present invariable order of society.

We must rekindle the fire of idealism in our society.

Songs don’t have to be about going out on Saturday night and having a good rink-up and driving home and crashing cars. A lot of what I’ve done is about alienation… about where you fit in society.

What you’re seeing with Occupy Wall Street and the others are people who are unhappy and they’re directing their unhappiness now toward Wall Street and toward those they think are doing too well in our society.

Concentration of wealth yields concentration of political power. And concentration of political power gives rise to legislation that increases and accelerates the cycle.

The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.

First, how do we give everyone a fair shot at opportunity and security in this new economy? Second, how do we make technology work for us, and not against us – especially when it comes to solving urgent challenges like climate change? Third, how do we keep America safe and lead the world without becoming its policeman?

Arguments are extremely vulgar, for everyone in good society holds exactly the same opinion.

The fundamental defect of fathers, in our competitive society, is that they want their children to be a credit to them.

I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life.

If there was less sympathy in the world, there would be less trouble in the world.

Subordination tends greatly to human happiness. Were we all upon an equality, we should have no other enjoyment than mere animal pleasure.

Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation.

Society has made us believe you should look like an 18-year-old model all your life.

The mind of America is seized by a fatal dry rot – and it’s only a question of time before all that the mind controls will run amuck in a frenzy of stupid, impotent fear.

The march of science and technology does not imply growing intellectual complexity in the lives of most people. It often means the opposite.

Each new generation born is in effect an invasion of civilization by little barbarians, who must be civilized before it is too late.

I think it’s brought the world a lot closer together, and will continue to do that. There are downsides to everything; there are unintended consequences to everything. The most corrosive piece of technology that I’ve ever seen is called television – but then, again, television, at its best, is magnificent.

I like working-class people, generally speaking.

The decline of literature indicates the decline of a nation.

Poverty is a veil that obscures the face of greatness. An appeal is a mask covering the face of tribulation.

Men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.

Evangelism is when the Gospel, which is good news, is preached or presented to all people.

A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act.

Most men are individuals no longer so far as their business, its activities, or its moralities are concerned. They are not units but fractions.

Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.

The public is a ferocious beast; one must either chain it or flee from it.

I like the silent church before the service begins, better than any preaching.

An eye for an eye only leads to more blindness.

I shall allow no man to belittle my soul by making me hate him.

Governments don’t control people like they used to.

No good is ever done to society by the pictorial representation of its diseases.

No government ought to be without censors; and where the press is free no one ever will.

We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.

My grandfather once ventured upon publishing a volume of hymns. I never heard anyone speak in their favour or argue that they ought to have been sung in the congregation. In that volume, he promised a second if the first should prove acceptable. We forgive him the first collection because he did not inflict another.

As a remedy to life in society I would suggest the big city. Nowadays, it is the only desert within our means.

The world is in a constant conspiracy against the brave. It’s the age-old struggle: the roar of the crowd on the one side, and the voice of your conscience on the other.

The tyranny of a multitude is a multiplied tyranny.

We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.

Meditation is not to avoid society; it is to look deep to have the kind of insight you need to take action. To think that it is just to sit down and enjoy the calm and peace, is wrong.

Writers write to influence their readers, their preachers, their auditors, but always, at bottom, to be more themselves.

Children begin by loving their parents; after a time they judge them; rarely, if ever, do they forgive them.

A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.

The ineffable joy of forgiving and being forgiven forms an ecstasy that might well arouse the envy of the gods.

Look at our society. Everyone wants to be thin, but nobody wants to diet. Everyone wants to live long, but few will exercise. Everybody wants money, yet seldom will anyone budget or control their spending.

All the United States, it is a society that is split like to the bottom, that had very poor people in the country that is one of the wealthiest countries.