to exist is to change,
to change is to mature,
to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.

Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to be always part of unanimity.

I say that a man must be certain of his morality for the simple reason that he has to suffer for it.

A little learning is a dangerous thing but a lot of ignorance is just as bad.

The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it always to be kept alive.

You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.

democracy is not a spectator sport.

If you as parents cut corners, your children will too. If you lie, they will too. If you spend all your money on yourselves and tithe no portion of it for charities, colleges, churches, synagogues, and civic causes, your children won't either. And if parents snicker at racial and gender jokes, another generation will pass on the poison adults still have not had the courage to snuff out.

In world history, those who have helped to build the same culture are not necessarily of one race, and those of the same race have not all participated in one culture.

If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.