At her birthday, my seven-year-old daughter will say that she wants these big cakes and certain expensive toys as presents, and I can't say no to her. It would just break my heart. But when I was little, for birthdays we just played outside and we were happy if we got any cake.

It is more from carelessness about truth than from intentional lying, that there is so much falsehood in the world.

Samuel Johnson

Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.

Gertrude Stein, Reflection on th

Rage cannot be hidden, it can only be dissembled. This dissembling deludes the thoughtless, and strengthens rage and adds, to rage, contempt.

James Baldwin

Love and doubt have never been on speaking terms.

Khalil Gibran

Science is the most exciting and sustained enterprise of discovery in the history of our species. It is the great adventure of our time. We live today in an era of discovery that far outshadows the discoveries of the New World five hundred years ago.

Michael Crichton

Power is given only to those who dare to lower themselves and pick it up. Only one thing matters, one thing to be able to dare!

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Make New Year's goals. Dig within, and discover what you would like to have happen in your life this year. This helps you do your part. It is an affirmation that you're interested in fully living life in the year to come.

Melody Beattie

Furnishing was not a priority in the Citadel. Shelves, stools, tables... There was a rumor among the novices that priests towards the top of the hierarchy had golden furniture, but there was no sign of it here. The room was as severe as anything in the novices' quarters although it had, perhaps, a more opulent severity; it wasn't the forced bareness of poverty, but the starkness of intent.

Terry Pratchett

Without culture, and the relative freedom it implies, society, even when perfect, is but a jungle. This is why any authentic creation is a gift to the future.

Albert Camus

I aimlessly travel, meaning I have no agenda other than to get small in the world, be quiet and observe people.

Walton Goggins

But veracity is a plant of paradise, and the seeds have never flourished beyond the walls.

George Eliot

I quite agree with Dr. Nordau's assertion that all men of genius are insane, but Dr. Nordau forgets that all sane people are idiots.

Oscar Wilde