“Truth is the only merit that gives dignity and worth to history.”

Learn as much by writing as by reading.

Limitation is essential to authority. A government is legitimate only if it is effectively limited.

Authority that does not exist for Liberty is not authority but force.

The strong man with the dagger is followed by the weak man with the sponge.

There is not a more perilous or immoral habit of mind than the sanctifying of success.

Judge talent at its best and character at its worst.

Feudalism made land the measure and the master of all things.

The possession of unlimited power corrodes the conscience, hardens the heart, and confounds the understanding.

Before God, there is neither Greek nor barbarian, neither rich nor poor, and the slave is as good as his master, for by birth all men are free; they are citizens of the universal commonwealth which embraces all the world, brethren of one family, and children of God.

Official truth is not actual truth.

Do not turn yourself from an end into a means-one does not justify the other.

I’m not a driven businessman, but a driven artist. I never think about money. Beautiful things make money.

A people averse to the institution of private property is without the first elements of freedom

Character is tested by true sentiments more than by conduct. A man is seldom better than his word.

Federalism is the best curb on democracy. [It] assigns limited powers to the central government. Thereby all power is limited. It excludes absolute power of the majority.

It is easier to find people fit to govern themselves than people fit to govern others.

The obvious merits utterance. Character is f**king pertinent.

The problem is if you really believe in a society where those who merit to get to the top, get to the top, you’ll also, by implication … believe in a society where those who deserve to get to the bottom also get to the bottom and stay there.

So that’s why one of my rules of parody writing is that it’s gotta be funny regardless of whether you know the source material. It has to work on its own merit.

Our homes do not have to offer us permanent occupancy or store our clothes to merit the name. To speak of home in relation to a building is simply to recognise its harmony with our own prized internal song. Home can be an airport or a library, a garden or a motorway diner.

The Buddha taught some people the teachings of duality that help them avoid sin and acquire spiritual merit.

To give up doing evil is more important than making merit.

It is simple awareness devoid of movement to and fro, of past and future, within and without, merit and harm.

If we only make merit but have not stopped doing bad things, then we will never have a day of completion. It is like an overturned bowl which is left outside in the rain.