The way God has been thought of for thousands of years is no longer convincing; if anything is dead, it can only be the traditional thought of God.

No argument can persuade me to like oysters if I do not like them. In other words, the disturbing thing about matters of taste is that they are not communicable.

the touchstone of a free act - from the decision to get out of bed in the morning or take a walk in the afternoon to the highest resolutions by which we bind ourselves for the future - is always that we know that we could also have left undone what we actually did.

Legends have always played a powerful role in the making of history. ... Without ever relating facts reliably, yet always expressing their true significance, they offered a truth beyond realities, a remembrance beyond memories.

The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil.

What I cannot live with may not bother another man's conscience. The result is that conscience will stand against conscience.

Promises are the uniquely human way of ordering the future.