“The battle that never ends is the battle of belief against disbelief.”

No iron chain, or outward force of any kind, could ever compel the soul of man to believe or to disbelieve: it is his own indefeasible light, that judgment of his; he will reign and believe there by the grace of God alone!

Every noble work is at first impossible.

No man lives without jostling and being jostled; in all ways he has to elbow himself through the world, giving and receiving offence.

A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge.

No man sees far, most see no farther than their noses.

Nothing stops the man who desires to achieve. Every obstacle is simply a course to develop his achievement muscle. It’s a strengthening of his powers of accomplishment.

In every phenomenon the beginning remains always the most notable moment.

To say that we have a clear conscience is to utter a solecism; had we never sinned we should have had no conscience. Were defeat unknown, neither would victory be celebrated by songs of triumph.

The eternal stars shine out again, so soon as it is dark enough.

No person is important enough to make me angry.

Every day that is born into the world comes like a burst of music and rings the whole day through, and you make of it a dance, a dirge, or a life march, as you will.

They only are wise who know that they know nothing.

Tell a person they are brave and you help them become so.

Silence is as deep as eternity, speech a shallow as time.

One life; a little gleam of Time between two Eternities; no second chance to us for evermore!

A man without a goal is like a ship without a rudder.

Something doing every minute’ may be a gesture of despair-or the height of a battle against boredom.

To be nobody-but-yourself – in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else – means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.

Christians fight best on their knees. Whatever good may be done is done and brought about by prayer.

But the devil is a subtle worm; he does not give up at one defeat, for he knows human nature, and the strength of the forces which battle for him.

I have always tried to be true to myself, to pick those battles I felt were important. My ultimate responsibility is to myself. I could never be anything else.

I have always tried to be true to myself, to pick those battles I felt were important. My ultimate responsibility is to myself. I could never be anything else.

If there’s a silver bullet in the battle to recapture Albany, it is the re-engagement of our citizens. This capital has become a physical metaphor for the isolation and alienation of our people.

I believe public education is the new civil rights battle and I support charter schools.