“Sometimes a man wants to be stupid if it lets him do a thing his cleverness forbids.”

The free exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world.

I was born lost and take no pleasure in being found.

This I must fight against: any idea, religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual.

In poverty she is envious. In riches she may be a snob. Money does not change the sickness, only the symptoms.

Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts, perhaps the fear of a loss of power.

Out of all this struggle a good thing is going to grow. That makes it worthwhile.

I know now why confusion in government is not only tolerated but encouraged. I have learned. Confused people can make no clear demands.

There’s a responsibility in being a person. It’s more than just taking up space where air would be.

And finally, in our time a beard is the one thing that a woman cannot do better than a man, or if she can her success is assured only in a circus.

A sad soul can kill quicker than a germ.

American married life is the doormat to the whorehouse.

People like you to be something, preferably what they are.

If a story is not about the hearer, he will not listen. And here I make a rule—a great and interesting story is about everyone or it will not last.

No one wants advice – only corroboration.

You’re bound to get ideas if you go thinkin’ about stuff.

It’s almost impossible to read a fine thing without wanting to do a fine thing.

Republicans stand for raw, unbridled evil and greed and ignorance smothered in balloons and ribbons.

All beings want to be happy, yet so very few know how. It is out of ignorance that any of us cause suffering, for ourselves or for others.

Reality is one of the possibilities I cannot afford to ignore.

Ignore all hatred and criticism. Live for what you create, and die protecting it.

Misunderstandings and neglect occasion more mischief in the world than malice and wickedness.

Anyone who imprisoned people on the ground of ignorance might fairly be confined himself by those who understood what he did not.

In happy ignorance, I sighed for a world I did not know, where I hoped to find every pleasure and enjoyment which my heart could desire; and now, on my return from that wide world, how many disappointed hopes and unsuccessful plans have I brought back!

If then women are not a swarm of ephemeron triflers, why should they be kept in ignorance under the specious name of innocence?