Vague and mysterious forms of speech, and abuse of language, have so long passed for mysteries of science; and hard or misapplied words with little or no meaning have, by prescription, such a right to be mistaken for deep learning and height of speculation, that it will not be easy to persuade either those who speak or those who hear them, that they are but the covers of ignorance and hindrance of true knowledge.

Nothing is necessary except God, and nothing is less necessary than pain.

Joseph De Maistre

A criminal trial is like a Russian novel: it starts with exasperating slowness as the characters are introduced to a jury, then there are complications in the form of minor witnesses, the protagonist finally appears and contradictions arise to produce drama, and finally as both jury and spectators grow weary and confused the pace quickens, reaching its climax in passionate final argument.

Clifford Irving

In every battle there comes a time when both sides consider themselves beaten, then he who continues the attack wins.

Ulysses S. Grant

I hope to have more time to think, to look at the sky, dealing with less crisis management, to learn another language, to travel.

Juliet Stevenson

Fear is the mother of morality

Friedrich Nietzsche

Wars are, of course, as a rule to be avoided but they are far better than certain kinds of peace.

Theodore Roosevelt

What is a hero without love for mankind.

Doris Lessing

You, too, women, cast away all the cowards from your embraces they will give you only cowards for children, and you who are the daughters of the land of beauty must bear children who are noble and brave.

Giuseppe Garibaldi

About 10,000 years ago, males and females were acting equitably and were treating one another as equals, and then males took over the power, because they have physical power and physical strength.

Jane Elliot

Which is - you know, like check it out, I'm pretty young, I'm only about 40 years old. I still have maybe another four decades of work left in me. And it's exceedingly likely that anything I write from this point forward is going to be judged by the world as the work that came after the freakish success of my last book, right?

Elizabeth Gilbert

If you read the letter, you will find there is nothing wrong with it.

Ronald Reagan

My limited experience of such things told me that you get closest to the truth by not giving it advance warning that you're coming after it.

Michael Marshall Smith