To write well, express yourself like the common people, but think like a wise man.

The ethos of redemption is realied in self-mastery, by means of temperance, that is, continence of desires.

Pope John Paul II

When I have an idea, I turn down the flame, as if it were a little alcohol stove, as low as it will go. Then it explodes and that is my idea.

Ernest Hemingway

A great book provides escapism for me. The artistry and the creativity in a story are better than any drugs.

Wentworth Miller

The inner voice is something which cannot be described in words. But sometimes we have a positive feeling that something in us prompts us to do a certain thing. The time when I learnt to recognise this voice was, I may say, the time when I started praying regularly.

Mahatma Gandhi

The jargon of these sculptors is beyond me. I do not know precisely why I admire a green granite female, apparently pregnant monster with one eye going around a square corner.

Ezra Pound

All persons shall have full and free liberty of religious opinion; nor shall any be compelled to frequent or maintain any religious institution.

Thomas Jefferson

Mas, no que se refere a este tribunal, a virtude negativa da tolerância deve transformar-se na virtude menos fácil, mas mais elevada, da justiça. Sobretudo, quando o vazio de um coração, assim como o que descobrimos neste homem, se torna um abismo onde a sociedade pode sucumbir. [...] Ainda na opinião dele, um homem que matava moralmente a mãe devia ser afastado da sociedade dos homens,exatamente como o que levantava a mão criminosa contra o autor de seus dias. Em todos os casos, o primeiro preparava os atos do segundo, anunciava-os, de certa forma, e legitimava-os. [...] - Peço-vos a cabeça deste homem - disse. E é sem escrúpulos que vos dirijo este pedido. Pois no decorrer da minha longa carreira tem-me acontecido pedir a pena capital, mas nunca como hoje eu senti este penoso dever tão compensado, equilibrado, iluminado pela consciência de um mandamento sagrado e imperativo e pelo horror que sinto diante de um rosto humano onde nada leio que não seja monstruoso.

Albert Camus

How quick come the reasons for approving what we like.

Jane Austen

People are generally amazed that I would take an interest in any form that would require me to stop talking for three hours.

Henry A. Kissinger

twice I have lived forever in a smile

E.E. Cummings

The sadness which reigned everywhere was but an excuse for unfailing kindness.

Victor Hugo

He could see naught but vanity in beauty And naught but weakness in a fond caress And pitied men whose views of Christian duty Allowed indulgence in such foolishness.

Josiah Gilbert Holland