“Fools multiply when wise men are silent.”

The impression that you are a demigod worried me. I wanted to be like an ordinary human being with virtues and vices.

A good head and good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special.

It is in the character of growth that we should learn from both pleasant and unpleasant experiences.

If you want the cooperation of humans around you, you must make them feel they are important – and you do that by being genuine and humble.

Forgiveness liberates the soul. It removes fear. That is why it is such a powerful weapon.

The true character of a society is revealed in how it treats its children.

Courage is not the absence of fear. It is inspiring others to move beyond it.

There is nothing more important in life than giving. Tolerance is forged when people look beyond their own desires.

No problem is so deep that it cannot be overcome, given the will of all parties, through discussion and negotiation rather than force and violence.

It always seems impossible until it’s done.

Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do.

Blaming things on the past does not make them better.

Rhetoric is not important. Actions are.

A leader is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind.

Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.

There can be no greater gift than that of giving one’s time and energy to help others without expecting anything in return.

Any fool can carry on, but a wise man knows how to shorten sail in time.

The young people think the old people are fools — but the old people know the young people are fools.

Any fool can tell a crisis when it arrives. The real service to the state is to detect it in embryo.

I am two fools, I know, For loving, and for saying so.

You think I am a fool, but you are a greater fool than I am.

It is supposed to true that those who do not know history are condemned to repeat it. I don’t believe knowing can save us. What is constant in history is greed and foolishness and love of blood.

Our religion seems foolish to you, but so does yours to me. The Baptists and Methodists and Presbyterians and the Catholics all have a different God. Why cannot we have one of our own?

The great secret of the successful fool is that he’s no fool at all.