it is better to inspire a reform than to enforce it.

Happiness and unhappiness are in the heart and spirit of each one of us: If you feel unhappy, then place yourself above that and act so that your happiness does not get to be dependent on anything.

You philosophers are lucky men. You write on paper and paper is patient. Unfortunate Empress that I am, I write on the susceptible skins of living beings.

In politics a capable ruler must be guided by circumstances, conjectures and conjunctions.

The more a man knows, the more he forgives.

Nothing is more difficult, in my opinion, than to avoid something that fundamentally attracts you.

A great wind is blowing, and that gives you either imagination or a headache.

I sincerely want peace, not because I lack resources for war, but because I hate bloodshed.

One does not always do the best there is. One does the best one can.

Power without a nation's confidence is nothing.

I am one of the people who love the why of things.

Don't be trapped in someone else's dream.

God draws near to the brokenhearted. He leans toward those who are suffering. He knows what it feels like to be wounded and abandoned.

When enough people realize that they are slaves but don't have to be, revolutions happen.

To ensure that children are protected, the abuse and exploitation of children must be brought to light and those who violate children brought to justice.

Becoming a mother doesn't always change every aspect of your personality.

Government! Government! What do I get for all I give, I'd like to know! Potholes and bombs!

Sanctification is glory begun. Glory is sanctification completed.

To read a poem with no thought in mind but to paraphrase it into a single, simple and usually high-minded prose statement is the destruction of poetry.

To do what you wanna do, to leave a mark - in a way that you think is important and lasting - that's a life well-lived.

Shams, my body is a candle touched with fire.