Take without forgetting, and give without remembering.
— Bryant H. McGill
Self-made men often worship their creator.
One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say.
No time is better spent than that spent in the service of your fellow man.
Most people do not actually know how to think for themselves, and unfortunately that prevents them from even knowing it.
Join me in my quest for a greater understanding of our existence. Join me in my desire for a greater self. Join me as I seek the humility to love and understand my fellow man.
It is better to have a fair intellect that is well used than a powerful one that is idle.
In America, educators punish those who actually think for themselves. There is only acceptance for popular opinion.
I have never read for entertainment, but rather for understanding and to satisfy my eager curiosity.
Having a sense of purpose is having a sense of self. A course to plot is a destination to hope for.
Fanatic is often the name given to people of action by people who are lazy.
Education should prepare our minds to use its own powers of reason and conception rather than filling it with the accumulated misconceptions of the past.
Do not let your ambitions become a sanctuary for your failures.
Creativity is the greatest expression of liberty.
Comfort in expressing your emotions will allow you to share the best of yourself with others, but not being able to control your emotions will reveal your worst.
Birth and death; we all move between these two unknowns.
American society will never completely understand the true meaning of equality.
Suffering is one of life's great teachers.
Remember that the greatest fool in the world may ask more than the wisest man can answer.
One of the most important things one can do in life is to brutally question every single thing you are taught.
No one is more insufferable than he who lacks basic courtesy.
Many openly show discontentment with their looks, but few with their intelligence. I, however, assure you there are many more plain minds than faces.
It is better to lose everything you have to keep the balance of justice level, than to live a life of petty privilege devoid of true freedom.
It has been my experience that if we make the effort to listen to people when we meet them, and work to get to know them a little, it is then easy to find something likeable in practically anyone.
In all known time there has never been a greater monster or miracle than the human being.
Human intelligence may not be the best trick nature has to offer.
Good manners are appreciated as much as bad manners are abhorred.
Enthusiasm is the energy and force that builds literal momentum of the human soul and mind.
Don't make the mistake of thinking that you have to agree with people and their beliefs to defend them from injustice.
Death is the great hope of all life; the desire to expend itself; to be used and consumed by its own longing for itself.
Courtesy is a silver lining around the dark clouds of civilization; it is the best part of refinement and in many ways, an art of heroic beauty in the vast gallery of man's cruelty and baseness.
Change will never happen when people lack the ability and courage to see themselves for who they are.
Architects of grandeur are often the master builders of disillusionment.
Ambition is not what a man would do, but what a man does, for ambition without action is fantasy.
Sometimes power is all a person has, so they will protect it even unto their own destruction, for without power they have nothing.
Our understanding of the world around us is constantly being redefined and expanded, and so therefore, it is wiser to be passionate about seeking for truth than knowing it.
One column of truth cannot hold an institution of ideas from falling into ignorance. It is wiser that a person of prudence and purpose save his strength for battles that can be won.
Never expect a loan to a friend to be paid back if you want to keep that friend.
Knowledge is that possession that no misfortune can destroy, no authority can revoke, and no enemy can control. This makes knowledge the greatest of all freedoms.
It is better to have a meaningful life and make a difference than to merely have a long life.
In the company of the accomplished, people hope it will rub off on themselves, in the company of the misfortunate, they fear it!
If we fear the unknown then surely we fear ourselves.
He who is silent must be agreed with, for what shall the wings of opposition thresh upon, without the winds of conversation to shoulder them.
Genius is always accompanied by enthusiasm.
Emotion is often what we rely upon to carry us across the unfathomable voids in our intelligence.
Do not let your grand ambitions stand in the way of small but meaningful accomplishments.
Curiosity is one of the great secrets of happiness.
Courteousness is consideration for others; politeness is the method used to deliver such considerations.
Callousness and insolence bring to bare unanimous social condemnation, while the simple efforts of politeness are admired; even in those who are otherwise despised.
An intelligent person is never afraid or ashamed to find errors in his understanding of things.
