Religion deserves no more respect than a pile of garbage.

Every autobiography ... becomes an absorbing work of fiction, with something of the charm of a cryptogram.

On the one hand, we may tell the truth, regardless of consequences, and on the other hand we may mellow it and sophisticate it to make it humane and tolerable.

Liberty is not for these slaves; I do not advocate inflicting it against their conscience. On the contrary, I am strongly in favor of letting them crawl and grovel all they please before whatever fraud or combination of frauds they choose to venerate...Our whole practical government is grounded in mob psychology and the Boobus Americanus will follow any command that promises to make him safer.

No man of honor ever quite lives up to his code, any more than a moral man manages to avoid sin.

During many a single week, I daresay, more money is spent in New York upon useless and evil things than would suffice to run the kingdom of Denmark for a year.

A Puritan is someone who is desperately afraid that, somewhere, someone might be having a good time.