...(I)ndividual selfhood is expressed in the self's capacity for self-transcendence and not in its rational capacity for conceptual and analytic procedures.

Ultimately evil is done not so much by evil people, but by good people who do not know themselves and who do not probe deeply.

Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Every experience proves that the real problem of our existence lies in the fact that we ought to love one another, but do not.

There was a time when I had all the answers. My real growth began when I discovered that the questions to which I had the answers were not the important questions.

It's always wise to seek the truth in our opponents' error, and the error in our own truth.

Nationalism: One of the effective ways in which the modern man escapes life's ethical problems.

Forgiveness is the final form of love.

Religion is so frequently a source of confusion in political life, and so frequently dangerous to democracy, precisely because it introduces absolutes into the realm of relative values.

Humor is a prelude to faith and laughter is the beginning of prayer.

Whether we're on the path toward victory or defeat is determined by the very next choice we make. Not the choices from yesterday. Not the choices five minutes ago.

What is going on with you?" she says, shaking her head and pushing me away. "What's up with all the love and affection? I mean, you of all people, you of the eternal iPod-hoodie combo.

To-night when the full-bellied moon swallows the stars. Grant that I know.

Talking to Francis gave me the sensation of settling slowly to the bottom of the ocean.

The morning is like the inside of a snow-apple.

[on the Republican party] A party with a narrow vision, a party that is afraid of the future.

The whole business starts with ideas, and we're convinced that ideas come out of an environment of supportive conflict, which is synonymous with appropriate friction.

Life itself was only futility, vain words, a squabble of cap and bells.

The urbanized life has lead to the destruction of the legends.

I have some that I have become a well-known-even infamous-client of, mostly in Memphis. But a great deal of that is legend and doesn't have anything to do with truth.