Which Quotes

I was bold in the pursuit of knowledge, never fearing to follow truth and reason to whatever results they led, and bearding every authority which stood in their way.

As individuals and as a nation, we now suffer from social narcissism. The beloved Echo of our ancestors, the virgin America, has been abandoned. We have fallen in love with our own image, with images of our making, which turn out to be images of ourselves.

There are certain pursuits which, if not wholly poetic and true, do at least suggest a nobler and finer relation to nature than we know. The keeping of bees, for instance.

To act on the belief that we possess the knowledge and the power which enable us to shape the processes of society entirely to our liking, knowledge which in fact we do not possess, is likely to make us do much harm.

Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.

Do the duty which lies nearest to you, the second duty will then become clearer.

The logs of wood which move down the river together Are driven apart by every wave. Such inevitable parting Should not be the cause of misery.

Legitimate use of violence can only be that which is required in self-defense.

Democratic nations must try to find ways to starve the terrorist and the hijacker of the oxygen of publicity on which they depend.

Youth is the period in which a man can be hopeless. The end of every episode is the end of the world. But the power of hoping through everything, the knowledge that the soul survives its adventures, that great inspiration comes to the middle-aged.

Anger is a wind which blows out the lamp of the mind.

The last proceeding of reason is to recognize that there is an infinity of things which are beyond it. There is nothing so conformable to reason as this disavowal of reason.

Non-violence, which is the quality of the heart, cannot come by an appeal to the brain.

Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.

The most savage controversies are about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way.

Only he is successful in his business who makes that pursuit which affords him the highest pleasure sustain him.

That deep emotional conviction of the presence of a superior reasoning power, which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of God.

Reaction - a boat which is going against the current but which does not prevent the river from flowing on.

The highest education is that which does not merely give us information but makes our life in harmony with all existence.

We need to be around our families not because we have so many shared experiences to talk about, but instead because they know precisely which subjects to avoid.

The Bible is the rock on which this Republic rests.

I never yet feared those men who set a place apart in the middle of their cities where they gather to cheat one another and swear oaths which they break.

One who gains strength by overcoming obstacles possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity.

Love and death are the two great hinges on which all human sympathies turn.

The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the sharers which can be the basis for understanding much of what is not shared between them, and lessens the threat of their difference.

That peace which is within us, we must experience it. And if we are searching for peace outside we will never find the peace within.

At eighteen our convictions are hills from which we look; at forty-five they are caves in which we hide.

As individuals, people are inherently good. I have a somewhat more pessimistic view of people in groups. And I remain extremely concerned when I see what's happening in our country, which is in many ways the luckiest place in the world. We don't seem to be excited about making our country a better place for our kids.

Learning is a result of listening, which in turn leads to even better listening and attentiveness to the other person. In other words, to learn from the child, we must have empathy, and empathy grows as we learn.

The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments.