“Two people in a conversation amount to four people talking. The four are what one person says, what he really wanted to say, what his listener heard, and what he thought he heard.”

A man who murders another shortens by a few brief years the life of a human being; but he who votes to increase the burden of debts upon the people of the United States assumes a graver responsibility.

Most of the temptations that come to us to sell the soul come in connection with the getting of money.

The people of Nebraska are for free silver and I am for free silver. I will look up the arguments later.

If it weren’t for the lawyers we wouldn’t need them.

Patriotism is a mystery-intangible, invisible, and yet eternal.

Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.

If you want criticisms, read the dissenting opinions of the Court. That will give you criticisms.

Anglo-Saxon civilization has taught the individual to protect his own rights; American civilization will teach him to respect the rights of others.

Evolution is not truth; it is merely a hypothesis-it is millions of guesses strung together.

Principles are eternal.

Real estate is the best investment for small savings. More money is made from the rise in real estate values than from all other causes combined.

Never be afraid to stand with the minority when the minority is right, for the minority which is right will one day be the majority.

Selfish interest is one of the most common obstructions to the advance of truth.

I hope the two wings of the Democratic Party may flap together.

The way to develop self-confidence is to do the thing you fear and get a record of successful experiences behind you.

If that vital spark that we find in a grain of wheat can pass unchanged through countless deaths and resurrections, will the spirit of man be unable to pass from this body to another?

I tried to groan, Help! Help! But the tone that came out was that of polite conversation.

Conversation should be like juggling; up go the balls and plates, up and over, in and out, good solid objects that glitter in the footlights and fall with a bang if you miss them.

So many of our conversations (about affirmative action) have been dishonest

And surely one of the best rules in conversation is, never to say a thing which any of the company can reasonably wish had been left unsaid.

Argument is the worst sort of conversation.

You’re always in a rush, or else you’re too exhausted to have a proper conversation. Soon enough, the long hours, the traveling, the broken sleep have all crept into your being and become part of you, so everyone can see it, in your posture, your gaze, the way you move and talk.

Our inner conversations often block our natural energy of peace, happiness and love.

A conversation is a dialogue, not a monologue. That’s why there are so few good conversations: due to scarcity, two intelligent talkers seldom meet.