“The whole idea of motivation is a trap. Forget motivation. Just do it.”

“The pleasure lies not in discovering truth, but in searching for it.”

“The greatest of all mistakes is to do nothing because you think you can only do a little.”

“Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect, as well as for the star. Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper.”

“As the Constitution is the highest law of the land [in America], so the Bible is the highest law of God. For it is in the Bible that God sets forth His spiritual laws. It is in the Bible that God makes His enduring promises. It is in the Bible that God reveals the plan of redemption for the human race.”

“It is unpredictable for you to know which of the strangers you are about to meet that becomes your friend. Be polite to every stranger!”

“People who have no vices, have very few virtues.”

“A beautiful death is for people who lived like animals to die like angels—loved and wanted.”

“The loss of enemies does not compensate for the loss of friends.”

“Tradition is the code that keeps change in lock. If you refuse change, you are likely to rust and guess the cause; that long held way of doing things.”

“And when you come to the point that you look in the face of every man and see deep down within him what religion calls "the image of God," you begin to love him in spite of. No matter what he does, you see God’s image there. There is an element of goodness that he can never sluff off. Discover the element of good in your enemy. And as you seek to hate him, find the center of goodness and place your attention there and you will take a new attitude. Another way that you love your enemy is this: When the opportunity presents itself for you to defeat your enemy, that is the time which you must not do it. There will come a time, in many instances, when the person who hates you most, the person who has misused you most, the person who has gossiped about you most, the person who has spread false rumors about you most, there will come a time when you will have an opportunity to defeat that person. It might be in terms of a recommendation for a job; it might be in terms of helping that person to make some move in life. That’s the time you must do it. That is the meaning of love. In the final analysis, love is not this sentimental something that we talk about. It’s not merely an emotional something. Love is creative, understanding goodwill for all men. It is the refusal to defeat any individual. When you rise to the level of love, of its great beauty and power, you seek only to defeat evil systems. Individuals who happen to be caught up in that system, you love, but you seek to defeat the system.”

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

“Take distinct steps and exploits. Those who are distinct and distinguished always score distinction. Go there, be there and stay there.”

“As long as there are sovereign nations possessing great power, war is inevitable.”

“Airplane travel is nature's way of making you look like your passport photo.”