“If we mean to have Heroes, Statesmen and Philosophers, we should have learned women.”

A patriot without religion in my estimation is as great a paradox as an honest Man without the fear of God.

Every object is beautiful in motion; a ship under sail, trees gently agitated with the wind, and a fine woman dancing, are three instances in point

If much depends as is allowed upon the early Education of youth and the first principals which are instill’d take the deepest root

And bless the tranquil inhabitants, equally guarded and protected, in person and property, in this happy Country, as those who reside in the most elegant and costly dwellings.

To be good, and do good, is the whole duty of man comprised in a few words.

When a mind is raised, and animated by scenes that engage the heart, then those qualities which would otherwise lay dormant

If we mean to have heroes, statesmen and philosophers, we should have learned women.

These are the times when a genius wants to live.

Many of our disappointments and much of our unhappiness arise from our forming false notions of things and persons.

Let your observations and comparisons produce in your mind an abhorrence of domination and power

But let no person say what they would or would not do, since we are not judges for ourselves until circumstances call us to act.

I am more and more convinced that man is a dangerous creature and that power, whether vested in many or a few, is ever grasping, and like the grave, cries, ‘Give, give.’

What is the history of mighty kingdoms and nations, but a detail of the ravages and cruelties of the powerful over the weak?

May justice and righteousness be the stability of our times, and order arise out of confusion. Great difficulties may be surmounted by patience and perseverance.

I am more and more convinced that man is a dangerous creature.

A people fired with love of their country and of liberty, a zeal for the public good, and a noble emulation of glory, will not be disheartened or dispirited by a succession of unfortunate events.

The first thing necessary for a constructive dealing with time is to learn to live in the reality of the present moment. For psychologically speaking, this present moment is all we have.

From Ernest Hemingway’s stories I learned to listen within my stories for what went unsaid by my characters.

I just love stories, and I love movies, learning and seeing the world. Growing up in Iowa, it was like, you wanna see the world? Movies can help you do that.

If one is to learn to live with the dead, one must first learn to live with the living!

You have to wear what feels good on you, what you feel comfortable in. And I’ve just learned to not really care.

Believe in fate, but lean forward where fate can see you.

I learned a lot I wouldn’t have learned roaming the streets of Dallas.

I’m happy to say she was laughing while she said it, but she meant it. I’ve never learned to be a candle burning in an empty room. So I go on the screen, and I say whatever I’m told to say.