It is a sign of maturity... to find explanations in charity.

You will have found Christ when you are concerned with other people’s sufferings and not your own.

You shall know the truth, and it will make you odd.

The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.

Right now the whole world seems to be going through a dark night of the soul.

Whenever I’m asked why Southern writers particularly have a penchant for writing about freaks, I say it is because we are still able to recognize one.

...you have to cherish the world at the same time that you struggle to endure it.

What people don’t realize is how much religion costs. They think faith is a big electric blanket, when of course it is the cross.

[To] know oneself is, above all, to know what one lacks. It is to measure oneself against Truth, and not the other way around. The first product of self-knowledge is humility . . .

It is the business of the artist to uncover the strangeness of truth

I don't deserve any credit for turning the other cheek as my tongue is always in it.

The good thing about being old is not being young.

When you dare me to do something, I will say, 'Watch me'. That is what I say to critics. 'Watch me'.

I cling to my imperfection, as the very essence of my being.

My job is not to represent Washington to you, but to represent you to Washington.

Unfortunately, the average guy on the street believes that studying evolution leads to atheism.

Energy is the inherent effort of every multiplicity to become unity.

Sweetness of life depends to its bitterness.

If my songs are being listened to between any other songs, that is awesome, and I'm glad people are getting something out of them.

Fear is the opportunity for courage, not proof of cowardice.

In philosophy, as in politics, the longest distance between two points is a straight line.