“You don't begin to live, until you've lost everything... I've lost everything three or four times. A perfect place to start.”

“To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.”

“GROWING UP changes one’s definition of what is fun — maturation does that, thankfully — so I hate to admit now that as a boy I thoroughly enjoyed throwing rocks at cars. It was a thrill to wait in hiding, ambush the car driving by, and then make our escape. Occasionally, a driver would stop their vehicle and get out to yell at us. But if we were really fortunate, they would chase us. We would run just far enough ahead to encourage them, but when they got close, we would turn on the afterburners of youth, leaving them far behind while we laughed hysterically. Once in a while, the police would come by — usually in unmarked cars — and the chase would be much more dramatic until we reached the ten-foot-tall fences at the end of the neighborhood field. To the police, it must have appeared as if they had us trapped. They had no idea, however, how practiced we were at vaulting those fences. We treated it like an Olympic event, running at full speed toward the fence and then leaping high into the air, grabbing the chain links, and allowing the momentum of our feet to swing us over the top and down on the other side. We would laugh at the police as we ran off, knowing there was no way they would follow us. Today I have great admiration for the police, who risk their lives on a daily basis to protect our lives, freedom, and property.”

“It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence.”

“If Americans desire to be both ignorant and free, they want what never has been and what never will be.”

“Things don't just happen. They are made to happen.”

“Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”

“get really concerned when I see people who are changing all the time. Every time you turn around they have a new call and a new vision. They may start out being called to prison ministry, When they find out that is hard, they get called to evangelism. When they discover that is hard, they are suddenly called to music ministry. The problem is that because of the mentality of our society, we are always looking for something easy. We think everything should be drive-through and push-button. If we can't microwave it, we don't mess with it. There are no microwave ministries. In fact, anything we want to do at microwave speed is not worth doing—except microwaving!

“Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.”

“God’s motive for creating you was his love.”

“the proximity of a desirable thing tempts one to overindulgence.”

“In order to control myself I must first accept myself by going with and not against my nature.”

“a manager “is not a person who can do the work better than his men; he is a person who can get his men to do the work better than he can.”

“Information is the oxygen of the modern age. It seeps through the walls topped by barbed wire, it wafts across the electrified borders. ... The Goliath of totalitarianism will be brought down by the David of the microchip.”

“You can't relate to a superhero, to a superman, but you can identify with a real man who in times of crisis draws forth some extraordinary quality from within himself and triumphs but only after a struggle.”