Everywhere man blames nature and fate yet his fate is mostly but the echo of his character and passion, his mistakes and his weaknesses.
Great men are like eagles, and build their nest on some lofty solitude.
A man has to learn that he cannot command things, but that he can command himself; that he cannot coerce the wills of others, but that he can mold and master his own will: and things serve him who serves Truth; people seek guidance of him who is master of himself.
We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special.
I just invent, then wait until man comes around to needing what I've invented.
Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life; everyone must carry out a concrete assignment that demands fulfillment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated, thus, everyone's task is unique as his specific opportunity to implement it.
Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.
There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult.
If money help a man to do good to others, it is of some value; but if not, it is simply a mass of evil, and the sooner it is got rid of, the better.
We have to heal our wounded world. The chaos, despair, and senseless destruction we see today are a result of the alienation that people feel from each other and their environment.
On the highest throne in the world, we still sit only on our own bottom.
Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.
A man's first care should be to avoid the reproaches of his own heart.
No mortal can keep a secret. If the lips are silent, he chatters with his fingertips; betrayal oozes out of him at every pore.
Humanism was not wrong in thinking that truth, beauty, liberty, and equality are of infinite value, but in thinking that man can get them for himself without grace.
Not only will we have to repent for the sins of bad people; but we also will have to repent for the appalling silence of good people.
That man is the noblest creature may also be inferred from the fact that no other creature has yet contested this claim.
As far as I knew white women were never lonely, except in books. White men adored them, Black men desired them and Black women worked for them.
All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.
A wise man can play the part of a clown, but a clown can't play the part of a wise man.
The highest forms of understanding we can achieve are laughter and human compassion.