“The proper aim of giving is to put the recipient in a state where he no longer needs our gift.”

“There are proven ways to win the loyalty of tough, strong, ferocious men: play on the certain knowledge of their superiority, the mystique of secret covenant, the esprit of shared suffering.”

“We are all brothers, but I live on a salary paid me for prosecuting, judging, and condemning the thief or the prostitute whose existence the whole tenor of my life brings about...We are all brothers, but I live on the salary I gain by collecting taxes from needy laborers to be spent on the luxuries of the rich and idle. We are all brothers, but I take a stipend for preaching a false Christian religion, which I do not myself believe in, and which only serves to hinder men from understanding true Christianity.”

“Love is a fruit in season at all times and within reach of every hand.”

“If you are determined to achieve your dreams, you must be ready to accept and affirm positive things about yourself. Affirm positively! Say positive things and encourage yourself that you can make it.”

“Children will learn far more by watching than by just listening.”

“Great people talk about ideas, average people talk about themselves, and small people talk about others”

“It's different for you and me. You study, you become enlightened; I study, I become confused.”

“Religious controversies are always productive of more acrimony and irreconcilable hatreds than those which spring from any other cause. I had hoped that liberal and enlightened thought would have reconciled the Christians so that their religious fights would not endanger the peace of Society.”

“One of life’s mysteries is why two children growing up in the same home sometimes take radically different paths—one following Christ, the other rebellious and scornful. Yet it happens.”

“The man who regards his own life and that of his fellow-creatures as meaningless is not merely unfortunate but almost disqualified for life.”

“You didn't create yourself, so there is no way you can tell yourself what you were created for.”

“A coward is much more exposed to quarrels than a man of spirit.”

“If you could kick the person responsible for most of your troubles, you wouldn't be able to sit down for weeks.”

“The founders feared that the central government, once it had united the states, would become too powerful and would impose its will upon the people—or the individual states—without regard to their wishes. This “government knows best” model was one that they were quite familiar with from their extensive studies of other governmental models as well as from their personal experience with the British monarchy. They felt that their best defense against a tyrannical government was to divide the power three ways, with each branch of government having the power to check the other two. They also listed the powers that the federal government would have, being sure to leave the balance of power in the hands of the states and the people. They wisely concluded that the states would not be eager to give additional power to the federal government and limited its power accordingly. Unfortunately, the founders did not realize that the time would come when the federal government would approve a federal taxation system that could control the states by giving or withholding financial resources. Such an arrangement significantly upsets the balance of power between the states and the federal government. As a result, today there are numerous social issues, such as the legalization of marijuana, gay marriage, and welfare reform, that could probably be more efficiently handled at the state level but with which the federal government keeps interfering. The states, instead of standing up for their rights, comply with the interference because they want federal funds. It will require noble leaders at the federal level and courageous leaders at the state level to restore the balance of power, but it is essential that such balance be restored for the sake of the people.”