Grass that is here today and gone tomorrow does not require much time to mature. A giant oak tree that lasts for generations requires much more time to grow strong.

I cannot conceive of a personal God who would directly influence the actions of individuals, or would directly sit in judgment on creatures of his own creation.

I've had a normal life, but I have struggled to get here. It hasn't been handed to me and it hasn't been easy.

Mothers and schools plant the seeds of nearly all the good and evil which exists in the world.

Education was in danger from the source that always hampered it—religious fanaticism.

One must know ones enemy as he is, not as one, for whatever motives, wishes him to be.

I have seen war ... I hate war.

I showed myself a lesser version of myself that night, and I’m glad I learned from it.

I feel like the word shatter.

When I'm writing something, if it gets too serious, I just can't bear it, so I take a step back and take the overall scene in and vent the air a little bit.

I must confess that I am interested in leisure in the same way that a poor man is interested in money.