“Emphasize reconciliation, not resolution.”

“There is an old Eastern fable about a traveler who is taken unawares on the steppes by a ferocious wild animal. In order to escape the beast the traveler hides in an empty well, but at the bottom of the well he sees a dragon with its jaws open, ready to devour him. The poor fellow does not dare to climb out because he is afraid of being eaten by the rapacious beast, neither does he dare drop to the bottom of the well for fear of being eaten by the dragon. So he seizes hold of a branch of a bush that is growing in the crevices of the well and clings on to it. His arms grow weak and he knows that he will soon have to resign himself to the death that awaits him on either side. Yet he still clings on, and while he is holding on to the branch he looks around and sees that two mice, one black and one white, are steadily working their way round the bush he is hanging from, gnawing away at it. Sooner or later they will eat through it and the branch will snap, and he will fall into the jaws of the dragon. The traveler sees this and knows that he will inevitably perish. But while he is still hanging there he sees some drops of honey on the leaves of the bush, stretches out his tongue and licks them. In the same way I am clinging to the tree of life, knowing full well that the dragon of death inevitably awaits me, ready to tear me to pieces, and I cannot understand how I have fallen into this torment. And Itry licking the honey that once consoled me, but it no longer gives me pleasure. The white mouse and the black mouse – day and night – are gnawing at the branch from which I am hanging. I can see the dragon clearly and the honey no longer tastes sweet. I can see only one thing; the inescapable dragon and the mice, and I cannot tear my eyes away from them. And this is no fable but the truth, the truth that is irrefutable and intelligible to everyone.

“I didn’t leave the Democratic party, the Democratic Party left me.”

“How could America send men into space and still keep its black citizens in bondage?”

“[I]t seems to me as clear as daylight that abortion would be a crime.”

“I believe in intuitions and inspirations...I sometimes FEEL that I am right. I do not KNOW that I am.”

“No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good.”

“Don’t just try to “make it” through the day. Celebrate the day. Say, “This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it” (see Psalm 118:24). Don’t dread the day; attack the day. Know what you want to accomplish today and go for it.”

“We should begin the day with the Bible, and as it comes to a close let the Word speak its wisdom to our souls. Let it be the Staff of Life upon which our spirit is nourished. Let it be the Sword of the Spirit which cuts away the evil of our lives and fashions us in His image and likeness.”

“It's not about you.”

“So, let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look over not only ourselves, but each other.”

“(Many people believe the lie that it is not God’s will to heal them, yet it is illogical to believe that God heals, and at the same time believe that He won’t heal you.)” 

“I should like friendship with you ... and trust. I should like that respect for each other which grows in the breast without demand for the huddlings of sex.”

“The only way to truly get more out of life for yourself is to give part of yourself away.”

“What excites you? What do you do well? What can you do better? In short what does success mean to you?”