Just as we outgrow a pair of trousers we outgrow acquaintances libraries principles etc. at times before they're worn out and times-and this is the worst of all-before we have new ones.

Everyone is a genius at least once a year. The real geniuses simply have their bright ideas closer together.

It often takes more courage to change one's opinion than to stick to it.

A book is a mirror: if an ape looks into it an apostle is hardly likely to look out.

With most men, unbelief in one thing springs from blind belief in another.

A person reveals his character by nothing so clearly as the joke he resents.

The fly that doesn't want to be swatted is most secure when it lights on the fly-swatter.

What I do not like about our definitions of genius is that there is in them nothing of the day of judgment, nothing of resounding through eternity and nothing of the footsteps of the Almighty.

If we thought more for ourselves we would have very many more bad books and very many more good ones.

It is almost impossible to carry the torch of truth through a crowd without singeing somebody's beard.

Man…who lives in three places – in the past, in the present, and in the future – can be unhappy if one of these three is worthless. Religion has even added a fourth – eternity.

Perception, influenced by experience and knowledge creates an acceptable level of reality.

You may write me down in history with your bitter, twisted lines. You may trod me in the very dirt, but still, like dust, I'll rise.

When I go to my live shows it's often a multigenerational audience, a family bonding experience.

If we did not have pride, we would not complain of it in others.

For me, trees have always been the most penetrating preachers.

It's terrible to have to depend on someone else.

Next time someone tells you 'never,' remember that means 'not for at least one hour.'

Display advertising and the movies, though they may dull the wits, certainly stimulate the eyes.

Fortune may have yet a better success in reserve for you and they who lose today may win tomorrow.

Chaos is a terrible thing to waste.