Instinct seeks satisfaction. Love is free of all demands.

We notice the person who is for ever bowing and fussily servile, and perhaps say, How humble he is! But the truly humble person escapes notice: the world does not know him.

It is precisely our egoism, our self-centeredness and self-love that cause all our difficulties, our lack of freedom in suffering, our disappointments and our anguish of soul and body.

However weighed down and entangled in earthly fetters you may be, it can never be too late.

It begins here, and has no end, and no earthly power can coerce it; and it is to be found in the human heart.

You must learn to follow privately the Lord's bidding: not to speak empty words, not to adorn yourself, always to obey authority, not to look at a woman with desire, not to be angry and much else.

It is for us to begin. If we take one step towards the Lord, he takes ten towards us -- he who saw the prodigal son while he was at a distance, and had compassion and ran and embraced him.

Remember: there is no place, no community, no external circumstance that is not serviceable for the battle you have chosen. The exception is only such work as directly serves your vices.

This obstinate will to personal happiness is the cause of unrest and division in your soul. Give it up and work against it: the rest will be given you without effort.

Say nothing of the new life you have begun or of the experiment you are making and experiences you expect to have. All this is a matter between God and you, and only between you two.

The saints' deep secret is this: do not seek freedom, and freedom will be given you.

Books were safer than other people anyway.

Determination knows that you can do what it takes, even if that is hard or frightening, in order to achieve the goal you seek.

I respect faith but doubt is what gets you an education.

So long as nuclear weapons continue to exist, so will the temptation to threaten others with overwhelming military force.

Most American homes have alternating current, which means that the electricty goes in one direction for a while, then goes in the other direction. This prevents harmful electron buildup in the wires.

We all think we know what happens after death. But maybe it's going to be not only weird but also dorky and comic and inconsistent.

I'd rather be caught holding up a bank than stealing so much as a two-word phrase from another writer.

Saddam Hussein is not the only deranged dictator who is willing to deprive his people in order to acquire weapons of mass destruction.

I secretly think reality exists so we can speculate about it.

I sing the body electric.