“The quest of the Inner Ring will break your hearts unless you break it. But if you break it, a surprising result will follow. If in your working hours you make the work your end, you will presently find yourself all unawares inside the only circle in your profession that really matters. You will be one of the sound craftsmen, and other sound craftsmen will know it. This group of craftsmen will by no means coincide with the Inner Ring or the Important People or the People in the Know. It will not shape that professional policy or work up that professional influence which fights for the profession as a whole against the public: nor will it lead to those periodic scandals and crises which the Inner Ring produces. But it will do those things which that profession exists to do and will in the long run be responsible for all the respect which that profession in fact enjoys and which the speeches and advertisements cannot maintain. And if in your spare time you consort simply with the people you like, you will again find that you have come unawares to a real inside: that you are indeed snug and safe at the center of something which, seen from without, would look exactly like an Inner Ring. But the difference is that its secrecy is accidental, and its exclusiveness a by-product, and no one was led thither by the lure of the esoteric: for it is only four or five people who like one another meeting to do things that they like. This is friendship. Aristotle placed it among the virtues. It causes perhaps half of all the happiness in the world, and no Inner Ring can ever have it.”

“They call it "business" because it does not become successful by a person's "idleness". Go get busy if you want to do business; but be busy for the right reasons!”

“Knowledge is only potential power. It becomes power only when, and if, it is organized into definite plans of action, and directed to a definite end.” 

“វាតែងតែហាក់ដូចជាមិនអាចទៅរួចរហូតដល់វាធ្វើរួចរាល់។” “គ្មានប្រទេសណាអាចអភិវឌ្ឍបាន,លុះត្រាតែប្រជាជនត្រូវបានអប់រំ។” “នៅក្នុងប្រទេសណាដែលមានប្រជាជនស្លូតត្រង់ស្លាប់,មេដឹកនាំកំពុងស្របតាមឈាម របស់ពួកគេជាជាងខួរក្បាលរបស់ខ្លួន។” “វាគឺជារឿងប្រកបដោយគតិបណ្ឌិតដើម្បីបញ្ចុះបញ្ចូលប្រជាជន​ឲ្យចូលរួមធ្វើ ហើយធ្វើឲ្យ ពួកគាត់គិតថាវាគឺជាគំនិតរបស់ពួកគាត់ផ្ទាល់។” 

“Status quo, you know, is Latin for 'the mess we're in'.”

“This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.”

“It’s the founding ideals that the flag draped over my father’s coffin stand for." Truth: His father was buried in Kenya, never served in the U.S. military. Which flag draped his father’s coffin? And what ideals does the flag that draped his father’s coffin in Kenya stand for?”

“MAKE YOUR DESIRES CLEAR, AND TO REDUCE THEM TO WRITING.” 

“Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.”

“Indecision is the reluctance or inability to pass a judgment on an issue under consideration. Indecision means you have come to crossroads and you cannot make your mind.”

“Repetition is the mother of character and skill.” 

“Do we know our poor people? Do we know the poor in our house, in our family? Perhaps they are not hungry for a piece of bread. Perhaps our children, husband, wife, are not hungry, or naked, or dispossessed, but are you sure there is no one there who feels unwanted, deprived of affection?” 

“Take all that you can of this book upon reason, and the balance on faith, and you will live and die a happier man. (When a skeptic expressed surprise to see him reading a Bible)”

“Jessica, hearing the voices, felt the depth of the experience, realized what terrible inhibitions there must be against shedding tears. She focused on the words: “He gives moisture to the dead.” It was a gift to the shadow world—tears. They would be sacred beyond a doubt.”

“They had supper and went away, and Ivan Ilyich was left alone with the consciousness that his life was poisoned and was poisoning the lives of others, and that this poison did not weaken but penetrated more and more deeply into his whole being.