“The best thing about space travel is that it made it possible to go elsewhere.”

Political tags – such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth – are never basic criteria.

I never learned from a man who agreed with me.

Don’t handicap your children by making their lives easy.

Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.

I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do.

Don’t ever become a pessimist… a pessimist is correct oftener than an optimist, but an optimist has more fun, and neither can stop the march of events.

For me, politeness is a sine qua non of civilization.

Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors… and miss.

Sex without love is merely healthy exercise.

By cultivating the beautiful we scatter the seeds of heavenly flowers, as by doing good we cultivate those that belong to humanity.

One of the sanest, surest, and most generous joys of life comes from being happy over the good fortune of others.

The supreme irony of life is that hardly anyone gets out of it alive.

Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards.

Being right too soon is socially unacceptable.

Anyone who considers protocol unimportant has never dealt with a cat.

I don’t see how an article of clothing can be indecent. A person, yes.

If you don’t try to win you might as well hold the Olympics in somebody’s back yard. The thrill of competing carries with it the thrill of a gold medal. One wants to win to prove himself the best.

The best way to destroy the capitalist system is to debauch the currency.

Life is about strategy not tragedy. Make the best one.

I realized now that militancy in the best sense of the word was the only answer where the black man was concerned, that any black man who wasn’t a militant in 1970 was either blind or a coward.

When I am wrong, I will learn the lesson and move on to face other challenges. For me, that’s what creating your own life is. Doing your best work while being your best self.

The road to the Olympics, leads to no city, no country. It goes far beyond New York or Moscow, ancient Greece or Nazi Germany. The road to the Olympics leads — in the end — to the best within us.

Truth is to act out of the best of ourselves.

I think the best partner you can have is someone who makes you want to be the best form of yourself.