Archives - January 2003

To leave the old with a burst of song, to recall the right and forgive the wrong; to forget the thing that blinds you fast to the vain regrets of the year that's past.

I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.

Until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned; that until there are no longer first class and second class citizens of any nation; that until the colour of a man's skin is of no more significance than the colour of his eyes; that until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all, without regard to race; that until that day, the dream of lasting peace and world citizenship and the rule of international morality will remain but fleeting illusions, to be pursued but never attained.

Envy designs a green picture. But even the greener grass seems to have weeds growing and hidden in there, somewhere.

All things are possible until they are proved impossible --- and even the impossible may only be so as of now.

Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice. But for those who love, time is not.

Human kind cannot bear much reality.

The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously.

The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.

I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.

I have the consolation of having added nothing to my private fortune during my public service, and of retiring with hands clean as they are empty.

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.

Sooner or later I'm going to die, but I'm not going to retire.

You have it easily in your power to increase the sum total of this world's happiness now. How? By giving a few words of sincere appreciation to someone who is lonely or discouraged. Perhaps you will forget tomorrow the kind words you say today, but the recipient may cherish them over a lifetime.

We can never be sure that the opinion we are endeavoring to stifle is a false opinion; and if we were sure, stifling it would be an evil still.

In the highest civilization, the book is still the highest delight. He who has once known its satisfactions is provided with a resource against calamity.

Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them: A desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.

Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door.

Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it.

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.

I don't know anything about luck. I've never banked on it, and I'm afraid of people who do. Luck to me is something else; hard work and realizing what is opportunity and what isn't.

The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.

A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity and once more in old age, as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon and by moonlight.

Educate your children to self-control, to the habit of holding passion and prejudice and evil tendencies subject to an upright and reasoning will, and you have done much to abolish misery from their future and crimes from society.

The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.

The truth is, laughter always sounds more perfect than weeping. Laughter flows in a violent riff and is effortlessly melodic. Weeping is often fought, choked, half strangled, or surrendered to with humiliation.

Man is a rational animal who always loses his temper when he is called upon to act in accordance with the dictates of reason.

If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.

The unfortunate thing about this world is that the good habits are much easier to give up than the bad ones.

The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity.