“... one doesn't need telepathy to read your intentions.”

“Never use abstract nouns when concrete ones will do. If you mean “More people died” don’t say “Mortality rose.”

“I heard about this man who fell into a pit, and while he was down there several people came by and offered their opinions. The Pharisee said, “You deserve to be in the pit.” The Catholic said, “You need to suffer while you’re in the pit.” The Baptist said, “If you’d been saved, you wouldn’t have fallen into the pit.” The charismatic said, “Just confess I’m not in the pit.” The mathematician said, “Let me calculate how you fell into the pit.” The IRS agent said, “Have you paid taxes on that pit?” The optimist said, “Things could be worse.” The pessimist said, “Things will get worse.”

“Be willing to pass through a short term pain so that you can come out with a long term gain. Don't fear the horrible waves of the waters; just dare to cross and you get there!”

“That we should obey laws whether good or bad is a new-fangled notion. There was no such thing in former days. The people disregarded those laws they did not like and suffered the penalties for their breach.”

“Climb the mountain just a little bit to test that it’s a mountain. From the top of the mountain, you cannot see the mountain.”

“The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things that never were.”

“The future depends on what we do in the present.”

“Let me tell your something. I'm from Chicago. I don't break.”

“If you feel pressed, confused, controlled, or stressed about something, then it is not of God; that is not how He works. Instead, the Holy Spirit will gently “reveal, (declare, disclose, transmit)” the truth to you.”

“If you are a woman who truly wants to have peaceful relationships, I encourage you to examine yourself and ask God to reveal to you any unrealistic expectations you may have of other people.”

“Don’t be deceived by the thoughts of obscurity that lingers around your head. Go and shine the light in you.”

“It is only men who are free, who create the inventions and intellectual works which to us moderns make life worth while.”

“My difficulties lay deeper. It was more than I could believe that Jesus was the only incarnate son of God, and that only he who believed in him would have everlasting life. If God could have sons, all of us were His sons. If Jesus was like God, or God Himself, then all men were like God and could be God Himself. My reason was not ready to believe literally that Jesus by his death and by his blood redeemed the sins of the world. Metaphorically there might be some truth in it. Again, according to Christianity only human beings had souls, and not other living beings, for whom death meant complete extinction; while I held a contrary belief. I could accept Jesus as a martyr, an embodiment of sacrifice, and a divine teacher, but not as the most perfect man ever born. His death on the Cross was a great example to the world, but that there was anything like a mysterious or miraculous virtue in it my heart could not accept. The pious lives of Christians did not give me anything that the lives of men of other faiths had failed to give. I had seen in other lives just the same reformation that I had heard of among Christians. Philosophically there was nothing extraordinary in Christian principles. From the point of view of sacrifice, it seemed to me that the Hindus greatly surpassed the Christians. It was impossible for me to regard Christianity as a perfect religion or the greatest of all religions.”