My soldiers ask of me, why surrender a military advantage in the field ... I could not answer.

...obstacles do not exist to be surrendered to, but only to be broken.

Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.

Have you ever noticed that there are people who do things which are most indelicate, and yet at the same time - beautiful?

Your purpose in relationships is simply to be your best self, regardless of the circumstances.

The function of government ought to be: make sure you have good water to drink, somebody picking up the garbage, good roads to drive on, enough electricity to turn your light bulbs and your record player on, and whatever smaller amounts of regulatory assistance is necessary to make this society work.

Seek not, my soul, the life of the immortals; but enjoy to the full the resources that are within thy reach.

Drop out of school before your mind rots from our mediocre educational system.

It is foolish to wish for beauty. Sensible people never either desire it for themselves or care about it in others. If the mind be but well cultivated, and the heart well disposed, no one ever cares for the exterior.

The key to immortality is first to live a life worth remembering.