Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we're here for something else besides ourselves.

The most distinguished hallmark of the American society is and always has been change.

For children, Christmas is anticipation. For adults, Christmas is memory.

People, if given the choice between anarchy and dictatorship, will always choose dictatorship because anarchy is the worst dictatorship of all.

Tenacity is a pretty fair substitute for bravery, and the best form of tenacity I know is expressed in a Danish fur trapper's principle: "The next mile is the only one a person really has to make."

It is perfectly clear that people, given no alternative, will choose tyranny over anarchy, because anarchy is the worst tyranny of all... The special nature of liberties is that they can be defended only as long as we still have them. So the very first signs of their erosion must be resisted, whether the issue be domestic surveillance by the Army, so-called preventive detention, or the freedom of corporate television, or that of a campus newspaper.

There are only two kinds of people in the world, suckers and people that can be had. Everyone can be had, but a sucker will always bet you $50 that he can't be had. Maybe magicians are around to remind us we can all be had, so we don't become suckers.