We deceive and flatter no one by such delicate artificies as we do our own selves.

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.

It is difficult to find happiness within oneself, but it is impossible to find it anywhere else.

The majority of men... are not capable of thinking, but only of believing, and... are not accessible to reason, but only to authority.

Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.

A man can be himself only so long as he is alone; and if he does not love solitude, he will not love freedom; for it is only when he is alone that he is really free.

Man is the only animal who causes pain to others with no other object than wanting to do so.

Genius and madness have something in common: both live in a world that is different from that which exists for everyone else.

A pessimist is an optimist in full possession of the facts.

Religions are like fireflies. They require darkness in order to shine.

Nature shows that with the growth of intelligence comes increased capacity for pain, and it is only with the highest degree of intelligence that suffering reaches its supreme point.

Your calling should be combined with your passion

Lay down your cynicism, and believe in the transformational power of love.

The purpose of education is to keep a culture from being drowned in senseless repetitions, each of which claims to offer a new insight.

My God is better than your God

The only magic we have is what we make in ourselves, the muscles we build up on the inside, the sense of belief we create from nothing.

When we work for Christ out of obligation, it feels like work. But when we truly love Christ, our work is a manifestation of that love, and it feels like love.

It is plain that we were meant to go together.

The things fishermen know about trout aren't facts but articles of faith.

I know the universe has a sense of irony, and sometimes you get reminded just how sadistic that can be.

There's nothing so comfortable as a small bankroll. A big one is always in danger.