“Sin is like a journey, it begins with one step.”

If a man must make himself appear cheerful; he must know why he is miserable.

It is a confession of the weakness of our own faith in the righteousness of our cause when we attempt to suppress by law those who do not agree with us.

I believe in the right of every parent to choose whether his child shall be educated in the public school or in a religious school supported by those of his own faith.

It is the right of our people to organize to oppose any law and any part of the Constitution with which they are not in sympathy.

Thereof I believe that no tribunal of any church has any power to make any decree of any force in the law of the land, other than to establish the status of its own communicants within its own church.

I believe in absolute freedom of conscience for all men and equality of all churches, all sects and all beliefs before the law as a matter of right and not as a matter of favor.

No sane local official who has hung up an empty stocking over the municipal fireplace is going to shoot Santa Claus just before a hard Christmas.

I believe in the absolute separation of church and state and in the strict enforcement of the Constitution that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise.

The American people never carry an umbrella. They prepare to walk in eternal sunshine.

I can think of no greater disaster to this country than to have the voters of it divide upon religious lines.

If you can make a man laugh, you can make him think and make him like and believe you.

They seem to feel that they are going to be effective because of their own strength, but they give no expression of it.

I believe in the support of the public school as one of the cornerstones of American liberty.

All the ills of democracy can be cured by more democracy.

The thing we have to fear in this country, to my way of thinking, is the influence of the organized minorities, because somehow or other the great majority does not seem to organize.

The Brooklyn Bridge and I grew up together.

New insight begins when satisfaction comes to an end, when all that has been seen, said, or done looks like a distortion. …

Prayer begins at the edge of emptiness.

Awareness of the divine begins with wonder.

Complications generally begin long before the fated soul carries its dubious light into whatever womb has been kind enough to volunteer

Accomplishment begins with two words: ‘I’ll try.’

It’s a combination of life being unpredictable, and you being super dumb.

My workday begins around 11 A.M., with a cup of black coffee in each hand. If I had more hands, there would be more coffee.

Before you begin, sit for a moment and take a couple of deep breaths. You want to be calm and prepared to maintain mental focus