“It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.”

I despise people who go to the gutter on either the right or the left and hurl rocks at those in the center.

History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or timid.

Through knowledge and understanding, we will drive from the temple of freedom all those who seek to establish over us thought control, whether they be agents of a foreign state or demagogues thirsty for personal power and public notice.

In most communities it is illegal to cry fire in a crowded assembly. Should it not be considered serious international misconduct to manufacture a general war scare in an effort to achieve local political aims?

The history of free men is never written by chance but by choice – their choice.

So the world is again faced with the problem of armed aggression. Powerful dictatorships are attacking an exposed, but free, area.

What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight- it’s the size of the fight in the dog.

You do not lead by hitting people over the head — that’s assault, not leadership.

Don’t join the book burners. Don’t think you’re going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed. Don’t be afraid to go in your library and read every book.

Preventive war was an invention of Hitler. I would not even listen to anyone seriously that came and talked about such a thing.

Always try to associate yourself with and learn as much as you can from those who know more than you do, who do better than you, who see more clearly than you.

We seek peace, knowing that peace is the climate of freedom.

Never waste a minute thinking about people you don’t like.

Don’t be afraid to go to your library and read every book as long as any document does not offend your own ideas of decency.

The problem is not merely man against man or nation against nation. It is man against war.

May we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion.

If your children ever find out how lame you really are, they’ll murder you in your sleep.

As a mother, the one thing that always goes through your head is, You’re never enough. You never can be enough – or do enough – for your kids. It’s a never-ending issue for me.

Kids in sports – it makes such an impact in life with the lessons that you learn.

My parents never pushed me towards music. I feel like, growing up in a musical household and always being surrounded by it, I was always kind of a performer child. I remember my parents would have guests over, and they would bring their kids, and I would make sure that we were ready to put a show on.

All your children are poor unfortunate victims of systems beyond their control

We cannot teach children the danger of lying to men without feeling as men, the greater danger of lying to children.

What I do is so important to me. It’s like being a parent, in some ways, of a super-demanding , high-achieving child, with a cry that sounds really cool on the radio.

What is an adult? A child blown up by age.