It is the dull man who is always sure, and the sure man who is always dull.

Richard Strauss--Old Home Week in Gomorrah

Sin is a dangerous toy in the hands of the virtuous. It should be left to the congenitally sinful, who know when to play with it and when to let it alone.

And what is a good citizen? Simply one who never says, does or thinks anything that is unusual. Schools are maintained in order to bring this uniformity up to the highest possible point. A school is a hopper into which children are heaved while they are still young and tender; therein they are pressed into certain standard shapes and covered from head to heels with official rubber-stamps.

The difference between the smartest dog and the stupidest man - say a Tennessee Holy Roller - is really very small.

Looking for an honest politician is like looking for an ethical burglar.

On the one side was bigotry, ignorance, hatred, superstition, every sort of blackness that the human mind is capable of. On the other side was sense.