“You are now old enough to know how very important to your future life will be the manner in which you employ your present time”

“The business of art lies just in this, -- to make that understood and felt which, in the form of an argument, might be incomprehensible and inaccessible.

“Strike the rock and the water will flow; don’t wait to brag about why you alone can hit the rock for water to flow; just go and do it because the world is thirsty! Your potentials are in put in you by God because he knows there is a need to be fulfilled; awaken it and present it to us!”

“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.”

“Singing and giving thanks may not seem like the thing to do in times of trouble, but believe me, it is exactly what we need to do.”

“The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time; the hand of force may destroy but cannot disjoin them.”

“You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”

“Examine the first hundred people you meet, ask them what they want most in life, and ninety eight of them will not be able to tell you. If you press them for an answer, some will say— security, many will say— money, a few will say— happiness, others will say— fame and power, and still others will say— social recognition, ease in living, ability to sing, dance, or write, but none of them will be able to define these terms, or give the slightest indication of a plan by which they hope to attain these vaguely expressed wishes. Riches do not respond to wishes. They respond only to definite plans, backed by definite desires, through constant persistence.”

“Nunca sabrás que Dios es todo lo que necesitas hasta que él sea todo lo que tengas.”

“In order to understand, observe, deduce, man must first be conscious of himself as alive. A living man knows himself not otherwise than as wanting, that is, he is conscious of his will. And his will, which constitutes the essence of his life, man is conscious of and cannot be conscious of otherwise than as free.”

“If we were supposed to be looking back at where we came from, we would have eyes in the back of our head, but we don’t. Our eyes are at the front of us, so we can always look forward.”

“Any religion that professes to be concerned about the souls of men and is not concerned about the slums that damn them, the economic conditions that strangle them and the social conditions that cripple them is a spiritually moribund religion awaiting burial.”

“We did not come here to fear the future. We came here to shape it.”

“You can literally force yourself to be courteous, happy and enthusiastic with every person you meet. After you have forced yourself to be so for a short period of time... the habit takes over.”

“An unjust law is itself a species of violence. Arrest for its breach is more so.”