But I am a blasted tree; the bolt has entered my soul; and I felt then that I should survive to exhibit what I shall soon cease to be - a miserable spectacle of wrecked humanity, pitiable to others and intolerable to myself.

Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose - a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye.

What terrified me will terrify others; and I need only describe the spectre which had haunted my midnight pillow.

But I am a blasted tree; the bolt has entered my soul; and I felt then that I should survive to exhibit what I shall soon cease to be - a miserable spectacle of wrecked humanity, pitiable to others and intolerable to myself.

Life is obstinate and clings closest where it is most hated.

It is hardly surprising that women concentrate on the way they look instead of what is in their minds since not much has been put in their minds to begin with.

Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of voice, but out of chaos.

It is justice, not charity, that is wanting in the world.

My dreams were all my own; I accounted for them to nobody; they were my refuge when annoyed - my dearest pleasure when free.

A slavish bondage to parents cramps every faculty of the mind.

The agony of my feelings allowed me no respite; no incident occurred from which my rage and misery could not extract its food.

Teach him to think for himself? Oh, my God, teach him rather to think like other people!

Every political good carried to the extreme must be productive of evil.

I am very averse to bringing myself forward in print, but as my account will only appear as an appendage to a former production, and as it will be confined to such topics as have connection with my authorship alone, I can hardly accuse myself of a personal intrusion.

And now, once again, I bid my hideous progeny go forth and prosper. I have an affection for it, for it was the offspring of happy days, when death and grief were but words, which found no true echo in my heart.

The same energy of character which renders a man a daring villain would have rendered him useful in society, had that society been well organized.

I do not wish women to have power over men; but over themselves.

My dreams were at once more fantastic and agreeable than my writings.

Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world.

A king is always a king - and a woman always a woman: his authority and her sex ever stand between them and rational converse.

Elegance is inferior to virtue.

It is a farce to call any being virtuous whose virtues do not result from the exercise of it's own reason.

The very winds whispered in soothing accents, and maternal Nature bade me weep no more.

The different accidents of life are not so changeable as the feelings of human nature.

A mind of moderate capacity which closely pursues one study must infallibly arrive at great proficiency in that study.

A solitary being is by instinct a wanderer.

Set religion free, and a new humanity will begin.

There are those, I know, who will reply that the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind, is nothing but a dream. They are right. It is. It is the American Dream.

Humanity is the sin of God.

From now on it is only through a conscious choice and through a deliberate policy that humanity can survive.

Complete and total perfection will come about only when we feel that our perfection is no perfections as long as the rest of humanity remains imperfect.

What I'm suggesting to you is that this could be a renaissance. We may be on the cusp of a future which could provide a tremendous leap forward for humanity.

When I reached adulthood, even now, I could afford to belong to a country club. But I could never belong to a private club because of my experience as a child, because it would isolate me from the whole of humanity.

The United States cannot feed every person, lift every person out of poverty, cure every disease, or stop every conflict. But our power and status have conferred upon us a tremendous responsibility to humanity.

Both politicians and journalists face situations which strain their honesty and humanity. My opinion is that politicians on the average stand up somewhat better than journalists.

I appeal to my fellow scientists to remember their responsibility to humanity.

The whole aspect of cinema and film festivals should be a moment to come together and celebrate art and humanity. It would be a shame if there was such a divide.

Only on paper has humanity yet achieved glory, beauty, truth, knowledge, virtue, and abiding love.

You have to open your mind. I like the ability to express myself in a deep way. It's the closest music to our humanity - it's like a folk music that rises up out of a culture.

Soon silence will have passed into legend. Man has turned his back on silence. Day after day he invents machines and devices that increase noise and distract humanity from the essence of life, contemplation, meditation.

Anyway, I just haven't been able to find any humanity in any Republican candidate ever in my entire life.

Mr. Speaker, genocide is the most potent of all crimes against humanity because it is an effort to systematically wipe out a people and a culture as well as individual lives.

All of us are guinea pigs in the laboratory of God. Humanity is just a work in progress.

Humanity is quite a unique species, since it is the only one with the means to wipe itself out.

An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.

There are matters in the Bible, said to be done by the express commandment of God, that are shocking to humanity and to every idea we have of moral justice.

It is in literature that the concrete outlook of humanity receives its expression.

Humanity has won its battle. Liberty now has a country.

War is the greatest plague that can afflict humanity, it destroys religion, it destroys states, it destroys families. Any scourge is preferable to it.