“A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition.”

The jungle speaks to me because I know how to listen.

We have forty million reasons for failure, but not a single excuse.

God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers.

You must learn to forgive a man when he’s in love. He’s always a nuisance.

All things considered, there are only two kinds of men in the world: those that stay at home and those that do not.

If you do not get what you want, it is a sure sign that you did not seriously want it.

A woman is only a woman, but a good cigar is a smoke.

All good people agree, And all good people say, All nice people, like Us, are We And every one else is They: But if you cross over the sea, Instead of over the way, You may end by (think of it!) looking on We As only a sort of They!

It’s always best to tell the truth.

Of all the liars in the world, sometimes the worst are our own fears.

If you can dream – and not make dreams your master.

There is no sin greater than ignorance.

Never look backwards or you’ll fall down the stairs.

Beware of overconcern for money, or position, or glory. Someday you will meet a man who cares for none of these things. Then you will know how poor you are.

If you can wait, and not be tired by waiting if you can dream, and not make dreams your master; if you can think, and not make thoughts your aim; if you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, and treat those two impostors just the same; yours is the earth and everything that’s in it.

The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.

The pastor ought to have two voices: one, for gathering the sheep; and another, for warding off and driving away wolves and thieves. The Scripture supplies him with the means of doing both.

We need to hear the Gospel every day, because we forget it every day.

I read one psychologist’s theory that said, “Never strike a child in your anger.” When could I strike him? When he is kissing me on my birthday? When he’s recuperating from measles? Do I slap the Bible out of his hand on Sunday?

The blindness of unbelievers in no way detracts from the clarity of the gospel; the sun is no less bright because blind men do not perceive its light.

The books are to remind us what asses and fools we are.

A gospel that doesn’t deal with the issues of the day is not the gospel at all.

If there is poetry in my book about the sea, it is not because I deliberately put it there, but because no one could write truthfully about the sea and leave out the poetry.

When you read the book you see that these guys aren’t holding any punches. They’re straightforward. They’re honest. They’re giving you their honest opinion.