I once devised a test question which I put to many people to discover whether they were pessimists. The question was: If you had the power to destroy the world, would you do so?

We slow the progress of science today for all sorts of ethical reasons. Biomedicine could advance much faster if we abolished our rules on human experimentation in clinical trials, as Nazi researchers did.

Paul Nitze

Fatherhood is pretending the present you love most is soap-on-a-rope.

Bill Cosby

Michelle Pfeiffer hasn't been finding a lot of work recently because she doesn't like what a woman her age is offered. That's a real double standard. You get Sean Connery, who gets older and older, still playing opposite young ladies, but it doesn't work the other way around.

Denzel Washington

Don't tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.

George S. Patton Jr.

Saving lives is not a top priority in the halls of power. Being compassionate and concerned about human life can cause a man to lose his job. It can cause a woman not to get the job to begin with.

Myriam Miedzian

Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present.

Albert Camus

Men are not hanged for stealing horses, but that horses may not be stolen.

Edward F. Halifax

A person is born with feelings of envy and hate. If he gives way to them, they will lead him to violence and crime, and any sense of loyalty and good faith will be abandoned.

Xun Zi

The humble are in danger when those in power disagree.

Phaedrus

There's something in human nature, the trying-to-get-on-with-it quality of people, the struggle to maintain or keep the show going can be exhausting.

Greg Kinnear

You must have this charm to reach the pinnacle. It is made of everything and of nothing, the striving will, the look, the walk, the proportions of the body, the sound of the voice, the ease of the gestures. It is not at all necessary to be handsome or to be pretty; all that is needful is charm.

Sarah Bernhardt, The Art of the

It is not merely enough to love literature if one wishes to spend one's life as a writer. It is a dangerous undertaking on the most primitive level. For, it seems to me, the act of writing with serious intent involves enormous personal risk. It entails the ongoing courage for self-discovery. It means one will walk forever on the tightrope, with each new step presenting the possiblity of learning a truth about oneself that is too terrible to bear.

Harlan Ellison