Where knowledge is a duty, ignorance is a crime.

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.

Mmm, freshly baked cookies. Even better, the rich, buttery scent had conquered the usual mothball odor.

We don't evaluate what's right and wrong, we live in a society. We live in a culture. We have to live within the culture.

Some situations are so hopeless when you look at them from the outside, you say, "Why are they still married?"

When you put your mind to it, you usually find that there is a way to achieve what you want after all.

The Buddha’s dharma didn’t teach peace and relaxation; it taught awakening—often rude awakening.

From the glow of enthusiasm I let the melody escape.

The mark of our time is its revulsion against imposed patterns.

I'm interested in what the virtues of all those things are, especially for the kind of person who's made their own world that revolves around them, like writers do. It seems especially precious.

I always try to push through fear. I won't be crippled by it. People say, 'Oh you take such risks,' or 'You're brave'. And I'm like 'Well, if you only knew - inside I'm really frightened!'

You play your character and it isn't right to step out of it. You have to stay in that character.