Confidence, once lost or betrayed, can never be restored again to the same measure; and we learn too late in life that our acts of deception are irrevocable – they may be forgiven, but they cannot be forgotten by their victims.
A ‘penchant for telling the truth’ can cripple a candidates chances faster than being caught in flagrante delicto with the governor’s wife.
The founder of every creed from Jesus Christ to Karl Marx, would be appalled to return to earth and see what has been made of that creed, not by its enemies, but by its most devoted adherents.
If you cannot endure to be thought in the wrong, you will begin to do terrible things to make the wrong appear right.
Nothing is as easy to make as a promise this winter to do something next summer; this is how commencement speakers are caught.
The world has always been betrayed by decent men with bad ideals.
Many persons of high intelligence have notoriously poor judgement.
Ignorance per se is not nearly as dangerous as ignorance of ignorance.
Every morning I take out my bankbook, stare at it, shudder – and turn quickly to my typewriter.
Genealogy: A perverse preoccupation of those who seek to demonstrate that their forebears were better people than they are.
Intolerance is the most socially acceptable form of egotism, for it permits us to assume superiority without personal boasting.
The main discomfort in being a middle-of-the-roader is that you get sideswiped by partisans going in both directions.
God cannot be solemn, or he would not have blessed man with the incalculable gift of laughter.
A winner rebukes and forgives; a loser is too timid to rebuke and too petty to forgive.
We must become masters of our own actions and attitudes. To let another person determine whether we will be rude or gracious, elated or depressed is to give control of ourselves. The only true possession is self possession.
Happiness held is the seed; happiness shared is the flower. A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery while on a detour. Happiness is a direction, not a place.
By the time a man asks you for advice, he has generally made up his mind what he wants to do, and is looking for confirmation rather than counseling.
As long as there are human beings, there will be the idea of brotherhood – and an almost total inability to practice it.
The principal difference between love and hate is that love is a irradiation, and hate is a concentration. Love makes everything lovely; hate concentrates itself on the object of its hatred.
There is no such thing as an “atrocity” in warfare that is greater than the atrocity of warfare itself.