“A man, at times, gets something for nothing, but it will, in his hands, amount to nothing.”

I do not think much of the good luck theory of self-made men. It is worth but little attention and has no practical value.

You have to take power. No one gives it.

Praying for freedom never did me any good til I started praying with my feet.

A great man, tender of heart, strong of nerve, boundless patience and broadest sympathy, with no motive apart from his country.

Some know the value of education by having it. I knew its value by not having it.

Our destiny is largely in our hands.

People might not get all they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all they get.

Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave.

What to the Slave is the 4th of July.

It’s a poor rule that won’t work both ways.

The life of a nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous.

It is better to be part of a great whole than to be the whole of a small part.

Slaves sing most when they are most unhappy. The songs of the slave represent the sorrows of his heart; and he is relieved by them, only as an aching heart is relieved by its tears.

To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker.

Man’s greatness consists in his ability to do and the proper application of his powers to things needed to be done.

The whole history of the progress of human liberty shows that all concessions yet made to her august claims have been born of earnest struggle.

Nature having developed their bodies in one direction and their brains in another, while human beings, on the other hand, drew from Mr. Darwin’s lottery of evolution both the winning ticket and the stub to match it.

I have noticed bakers with swelled hands, and painful, too; in fact the hands of all such workers become much thickened by the constant pressure of kneading the dough.

He learned to write with his left hand, which was soon thereafter seized with the same disorder.

You wouldn’t think that sorrow could be a light, would you, dearie? But it can. And then after that, service lights it. Yes. . . . I think that is what love is to a woman . . . a lantern in her hand.

A year later, I had it on all my fingers. My hands looked like the hands of an alligator. So I fist bumped people instead of shaking hands for a few years.

A map says to you, ‘Read me carefully, follow me closely, doubt me not.’ It says, ‘I am the earth in the palm of your hand. Without me, you are alone and lost.

It’s hilarious, a bit crazy, and it should make anyone wonder why people put their careers in the hands of these idiotsand remember I’m one of them. If you have a child, make sure he or she reads this before starting at the bottom- anywhere.

I myself, with my own hands, have done 5,000 abortions. I have supervised another 10,000 that residents have done under my direction. So I have 75,000 abortions in my life. Those are pretty good credentials to speak on the subject of abortion.