If we only wanted to be happy it would be easy but we want to be happier than other people which is almost always difficult since we think them happier than they are.

To become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them.

There is no nation so powerful, as the one that obeys its laws not from principals of fear or reason, but from passion.

An empire founded by war has to maintain itself by war.

The sublimity of administration consists in knowing the proper degree of power that should be exerted on different occasions.

The less men think, the more they talk.

False happiness renders men stern and proud, and that happiness is never communicated. True happiness renders them kind and sensible, and that happiness is always shared.

Success in the majority of circumstances depends on knowing how long it takes to succeed.

An author is a fool who, not content with boring those he lives with, insists on boring future generations.

Friendship is an arrangement by which we undertake to exchange small favors for big ones.

There should be weeping at a man's birth, not at his death.

Success should not only be measured by what you get but by the stewardship of your duty.

We are in an age of technology where we sit in our little cubicles and we IM each other and Skype each other and never connect as human beings.

all women, without in the least meaning it, consider every man they meet as a possible husband for themselves or for their best friend.

If you have the ability to do something, you should do it.

We're born alone. We do need each other. It's lonely to really effectively live your life, and anyone you can get help from or give help to; that's part of your obligation.

I want to enjoy myself in this planet for as long as I can for the people I care about.

That's the best advice I can give - when you're trying to write a comedy, first write a drama, and then make it funny.

The test of the moral quality of a civilization is its treatment of the weak and powerless.

When Mutti and Vati came in I didn't speak to them. I just unfurled the CAT MOLESTERS banner I had made.

The essence of generosity is letting go. Pain is always a sign that we are holding on to something - usually ourselves.