“Pride, which inspires us with so much envy, is sometimes of use toward the moderating of it too.”

Perfect valour consists in doing without witnesses that which we would be capable of doing before everyone.

Virtue would go far if vanity did not keep it company.

We seldom find any person of good sense, except those who share our opinions.

How can we expect another to keep our secret if we have been unable to keep it ourselves?

Though men are apt to flatter and exalt themselves with their great achievements, yet these are, in truth, very often owing not so much to design as chance.

We pardon to the extent that we love.

Those who are incapable of committing great crimes do not readily suspect them in others.

There are various sorts of curiosity; one is from interest, which makes us desire to know that which may be useful to us; and the other, from pride which comes from the wish to know what others are ignorant of.

It is not enough to have great qualities; We should also have the management of them.

A refusal of praise is a desire to be praised twice.

If it were not for the company of fools, a witty man would often be greatly at a loss.

Mediocre minds usually dismiss anything which reaches beyond their own understanding.

Why is it that our memory is good enough to retain the least triviality that happens to us, and yet not good enough to recollect how often we have told it to the same person?

We would frequently be ashamed of our good deeds if people saw all of the motives that produced them.

It is often laziness and timidity that keep us within our duty while virtue gets all the credit.

If we resist our passions, it is more due to their weakness than our strength.

It would appear that, on the level of individual nations and of international relations, the free market is the most efficient instrument for utilizing resources and effectively responding to needs.

The first thing that inspires any song is a chord progression. When I have one I really like, I get into the lyrics even more.

If you pour your life into songs, you want them to be heard. It’s a desire to communicate. A deep desire to communicate inspires songwriting.

J.J. Watt, he does on defense what Andrew Luck does on offense. He inspires those around him, he makes them better.

The joy, the optimism, the teamwork, the experimentation, the exploration, the curiosity. No band has inspired more artwork, no band has inspired more books. No band has ever inspired a more loyal following and I’m involved in all of that stuff.

The things I see every day inspire my sound and lyrics, like certain people and situations that stick out in my mind. There are also certain musicians I love whose music and styles inspire me.

What the history of aviation has brought in the 20th century should inspire us to be inventors and explorers ourselves in the new century.

I just wanted to inspire people and I hope I did.