We can only reason from what is; we can reason on actualities, but not on possibilities.

To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead.

The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.

A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not to be trusted by anybody.

He who dares not offend cannot be honest.

[A]ll churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Muslim, are simply human inventions. They use fear to enslave us. They are a monopoly for power and profit.

If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.

The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.

Religion is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize humankind; and, for my part, I sincerely detest it as I detest everything that is cruel.

Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.

I am nothing.I'll never be anything.I couldn't want to be something.Apart from that, I have in me all the dreams in the world.

As a writer, you should not judge, you should understand.

A man's hope measures his civilization. The attainability of the hope measures, or may measure, the civilization of his nation and time.

It is truly regrettable that a person will treat a man who is valuable to him well, and a man who is worthless to him poorly.

At home, I hardly ever leave London. I don't like the countryside in England.

San Francisco is a city with the assets of a metropolis without the disadvantages of size and industry.

Don't let the bastards grind you down. I repeat this to myself but it conveys nothing. You might as well say, Don't let there be air; or Don't be. I suppose you could say that.

Love, we are a small pond.

Every wrong seems possible today, and is accepted. I don't accept it.

I believe in prayer and in strong belief.