Work is that which you dislike doing but perform for the sake of external rewards. At school, this takes the form of grades. In society, it means money, status, privilege.

You cannot spend money in luxury without doing good to the poor. Nay, you do more good to them by spending it in luxury, than by giving it; for by spending it in luxury, you make them exert industry, whereas by giving it, you keep them idle.

The equal right of all citizens to health, education, work, food, security, culture, science, and wellbeing – that is, the same rights we proclaimed when we began our struggle, in addition to those which emerge from our dreams of justice and equality for all inhabitants of our world – is what I wish for all.

The lack of money is the root of all evil.

In today’s world, having money has allowed people who are extremely uncool to think that they’re cool and carry it like that. People who really are cool and people who really are artists and have ideas have to literally turn in their cool card to society just to make it past the age of 28.

This world of ours… must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.

But there are advantages to being elected President. The day after I was elected, I had my high school grades classified Top Secret.

War is a way of shattering to pieces… materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too comfortable and… too intelligent.

Progressively saved by the machine from the anxieties that bound his hands and mind to material toil, relieved of a large part of his work and compelled to an ever-increasing speed of action by the devices which his intelligence cannot help ceaselessly creating and perfecting, man is about to find himself abruptly plunged into idleness.

I mean, I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money.

An asylum for the sane would be empty in America.

Right now it’s only a notion, but I think I can get the money to make it into a concept, and later turn it into an idea.

The community stagnates without the impulse of the individual. The impulse dies away without the sympathy of the community.

Crowded classrooms and half-day sessions are a tragic waste of our greatest national resource – the minds of our children.

Don’t matter how much money you got, there’s only two kinds of people: there’s saved people and there’s lost people.

Democracy don’t rule the world, You’d better get that in your head; This world is ruled by violence, But I guess that’s better left unsaid.

Humanity I love you because when you’re hard up you pawn your intelligence to buy a drink.

The government is us; we are the government, you and I.

Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they?

The circulation of confidence is better than the circulation of money.

He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money.

The fact is, I was never too bright in school. I ain’t ashamed of it, though. I mean, how much do school principals make a month?

I’m trying to make God more relevant in our society.

I started out in anthropology, so to me how society works, how people put themselves together and make things work, has always been a big interest.

Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we’re being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I’m liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That’s what’s insane about it.

Money is usually attracted, not pursued.

The internet could be a very positive step towards education, organisation and participation in a meaningful society.

For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.

The civility which money will purchase, is rarely extended to those who have none.

Americans are apocalyptic by nature. The reason why is that we’ve always had so much, so we live in deadly fear that people are going to take it away from us.

Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories.

Justice is itself the great standing policy of civil society; and any eminent departure from it, under any circumstances, lies under the suspicion of being no policy at all.

However great may be the work for which we are responsible, we will always do well if we pause to spend time in sacred praise.

My share of the work may be limited, but the fact that it is work makes it precious.

I hate being called an ‚icon.‘ I just don’t like it. That’s all there is to it.

The basic thing nobody asks is why do people take drugs of any sort? Why do we have these accessories to normal living to live? I mean, is there something wrong with society that’s making us so pressurized, that we cannot live without guarding ourselves against it?

You lose your individuality a huge amount when you have no money, and I certainly had that experience.

I work all day, do research, sketch my ideas, prepare for performances.

Our modern society – especially in the West, and especially now – reveres youth.

To have done anything just for money is to have been truly idle.

Education is the period during which you are being instructed by somebody you do not know, about something you do not want to know.

Princes and governments are far more dangerous than other elements within society.

Regardless of what society says, we can’t go on much longer in the sea of immorality without judgment coming.

Optimism comes less easily today, not because democracy is less vigorous, but because democracy’s enemies have refined their instruments of repression.

On the first day of school, my teacher, Miss Mdingane, gave each of us an English name and said that from thenceforth that was the name we would answer to in school. This was the custom among Africans in those days and was undoubtedly due to the British bias of our education.

Our society strives to avoid any possibility of offending anyone – except God.

Riches are a good hand maiden, but a poor mistress.

The value of a dollar is social, as it is created by society.

Some artists are working to buy the mansion or whatever the element of fame must bear, but I spend all my money on my show.

If it’s a penny for your thoughts and you put in your two cents worth, then someone, somewhere is making a penny.

And while the law of competition may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it ensures the survival of the fittest in every department.

The people of England are the most enthusiastic in the world.

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.

You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.

I really don’t like women who try to be men. All these politicians, I think they’re horrendous. We could have a brilliant future, but we have this terrible male vision of destroying everything. They’d better sort themselves out and become more womanly.

No money is better spent than what is laid out for domestic satisfaction.

What is ominous is the ease with which some people go from saying that they don’t like something to saying that the government should forbid it. When you go down that road, don’t expect freedom to survive very long.

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.

Civilization is the limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities.

When the first big paycheque with ‚Dumb And Dumber‘ hit, I went: ‚Gosh, I wonder if this will affect my performance. Will I do a take and think, was that worth $7 million?‘ But that never happened. If anything, it made me rebel against that thing when people who get rich start playing it safe.

Money and women are the most sought after and the least known about of any two things we have.