“The spirit of improvement is not always a spirit of liberty, for it may aim at forcing improvements on an unwilling people.”

There is an imaginary circle drawn around every human being, over which no government should be able to step.

Ask yourself whether you are happy, and you cease to be so.

There is the greatest difference between presuming an opinion to be true, because, with every opportunity for contesting it, it has not been refuted, and assuming its truth for the purpose of not permitting its refutation.

There is one plain rule of life. Try thyself unweariedly till thou findest the highest thing thou art capable of doing, faculties and outward circumstances being both duly considered, and then do it.

He who lets the world choose his plan of life for him has need of no other faculty than that of ape-like imitation.

The struggle between Liberty and Authority is the most conspicuous feature in the portions of history with which we are earliest familiar; particularly in that of Greece, Rome, and England

The study of science teaches young men to think, while study of the classics teaches them to express thought.

The pupil who is never required to do what he cannot do, never does what he can do.

The most cogent reason for restricting the interference of government is the great evil of adding unnecessarily to its power.

Since the general or prevailing opinion on any subject is rarely or never the whole truth, it is only by the collision of adverse opinion that the remainder of the truth has any chance of being supplied.

The object of universities is not to make skillful lawyers, physicians or engineers. It is to make capable and cultivated human beings.

No slave is a slave to the same lengths, and in so full a sense of the word, as a wife is.

All silencing of discussion is an assumption of infallibility.

Liberty lies in the rights of that person whose views you find most odious.

The perpetual obstacle to human advancement is custom.

We have a right, also, in various ways, to act upon our unfavorable opinion of anyone, not to the oppression of his individuality, but in the exercise of ours.

The first part of a good work is the will, the second is vigorous effort in the doing of it. God is the author of both. It is, therefore, robbery from God to arrogate anything to ourselves, either in the will or the act.

Feed your fears and your faith will starve. Feed your faith, and your fears will.

It’s my body and if I want to do it like Michael Jackson, I will. My nose bothered me for a long time. Now it’s smaller and I’m happy. If I wanna put my tits on my back, they’re mine!

Unless you’re willing to look a little foolish, forget the possibility of becoming great.

Don’t you dare take what I’m giving away more than willingly, for granted.

To honor life, we must be willing to grow through what we don’t know yet, and outgrow what we know no longer fits us. We must be willing to give in to the process, moment by moment, realizing a new plot may be unfolding.

Kindness is willing to look in the face of the hurting.

Any man who’s not willing to take half a loaf in a negotiation, well, that man never went to bed hungry.