I am a lover of truth, a worshipper of freedom, a celebrant at the altar of language and purity and tolerance.

Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.

He who chooses the beginning of the road chooses the place it leads to.

There is a wisdom of the head, and... there is a wisdom of the heart.

The experience gathered from books, though often valuable,is but the nature of learning whereas the experience gained from actual life is of the nature of wisdom.

In moments of great grief, that’s where you look and immerse yourself. You realise you are not immortal, you are not a god, you are part of the natural world and you come to accept that.

Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.

Never put off for tomorrow, what you can do today.

Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need.

You don't become what you want, you become what you believe

The absent are never without fault, nor the present without excuse.

Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.

It is necessary to keep one's compass in one's eyes and not in the hand, for the hands execute, but the eye judges.

To avoid criticism say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.

You can best serve civilization by being against what usually passes for it.

Great acts are made up of small deeds.

It’s your road and yours alone. Others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you.

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me'.

The only real laughter comes from despair.

I don't like definitions, but if there is a definition of freedom, it would be when you have control over your reality to transform it, to change it, rather than having it imposed upon you. You can't really ask for more than that.

You always admire what you really don't understand.