“All known living bodies are sharply divided into two special kingdoms, based upon the essential differences which distinguish animals from plants, and in spite of what has been said, I am convinced that these two kingdoms do not really merge into one another at any point.”

The form follows the function.

It is not always the magnitude of the differences observed between species that must determine specific distinctions, but the constant preservation of those differences in reproduction.

It is not enough to discover and prove a useful truth previously unknown, but that it is necessary also to be able to propagate it and get it recognized.

All knowledge that is not the real product of observation, or of consequences deduced from observation, is entirely groundless and illusory.

Habits form a second nature.

What nature does in the course of long periods we do every day when we suddenly change the environment in which some species of living plant is situated.

It is not the organs-that is, the character and form of the animal’s bodily parts-that have given rise to its habits and particular structures. It is the habits and manner of life and the conditions in which its ancestors lived that have in the course of time fashioned its bodily form, its organs and qualities.

In one book, CACHALOT, just for my own amusement, every character is based directly on someone I have known.

I know how to live with a blade and teach it not to make me bleed.

A great statesman is he who knows when to depart from traditions, as well as when to adhere to them.

I don’t know how to love people well yet. But I know I can love you the way you deserve, if you let me.

You don’t know what the pattern of flour and chicken is going to be, but you know you’re going to get some good fried chicken.

Just because a lot of people know something nominal doesn’t make it important. A lot of people know what a pencil sharpener is, but that doesn’t make it the most important invention of the 20th century.

The worst story I know is my heart. The best story I know is my heart. Both these truths know how to exist together in ways I never thought I will learn. This is the quietest of victories.

Yes, I’m going to be the President of the United States. You know why? You think you can get chicks by being in the movies? You can really get chicks by being the President.