change is not only possible but inevitable—Being connected means we change one another,,, We can direct that change in positive, productive ways.

The Muslim world is utterly deranged by its religious tribalism…The idea that Islam is a 'peaceful religion hijacked by extremists' is a dangerous fantasy—the dogmatic commitment to using violence to defend one’s faith, both from within and without to varying degrees, is a central Islamic doctrine

The ideology of Judaism remains a lightning rod for intolerance to this day… Judaism is as intrinsically divisive, as ridiculous in its literalism, and as at odds with the civilizing insights of modernity as any other religion.

Catholicism is a ghoulish machinery set to whirling through the ages by the opposing winds of shame and sadism that has spent two millennia demonizing human sexuality to a degree unmatched by any other institution. Its forced celibacy attracts pedophiles, and its opposition to the use of contraception increases poverty, shorter lifespans, and the proliferation of HIV/AIDS.

Islam, as it is currently understood and practiced by vast numbers of the world's Muslims, is antithetical to civil society.

Every man is a consumer but should be a producer.

Great works of art teach us to have confidence in our spontaneous impressions with good humored inflexibility—the most when the whole cry of voices is against us.

Statistically, the probability of any one of us being here is so small that you’d think the mere fact of existing would keep us all in a contented dazzlement of surprise.

the important thing is not to worry about the port of destination but to enjoy the voyage on which we are likely to be a long time and where we are now

Beauty? What is it but a new way of approach?... that ardent inner curiosity which is the only true foundation for the appreciation of beauty—for beauty is inward, not outward... a flower blooms in our door-yard more wonderful than the shining heights of the Alps!

I therefore advise those critical, querulous, discontented, unhappy People, that if they wish to be respected and belov'd by others & happy in themselves, they should leave off looking at the ugly Leg.

I think of Abigail Adams. People sometimes think that women nowadays are smarter than their grandmothers. It simply isn't so.

One of the chief attributes of a Buddhist man, one text states, is 'to be content with just one wife.'

One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.

These are my two drops of rain
Waiting on the window-pane…
All the best and all the worst
Comes from which of them is first…
John is there, and John has won!
Look! I told you! Here's the sun!

“The things that make me different are the things that make me.”

The third-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the majority. The second-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the minority. The first-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking.

War is something of man’s own fostering, and if all mankind renounces it, then it is no longer there.

“Don't underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering.”

“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.”