Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscovered - either by themselves or by others.

If you should rear a duck in the heart of the Sahara, no doubt it would swim if you brought it to the Nile.

My kind of loyalty was loyalty to one's country, not to its institutions or its officeholders. The country is the real thing, the substantial thing, the eternal thing; it is the thing to watch over, and care for, and be loyal to; institutions are extraneous, they are its mere clothing, and clothing can wear out, become ragged, cease to be comfortable, cease to protect the body from winter, disease, and death.

If we learned to walk and talk the way we learn to read and write, everyone would limp and stutter.

The conviction of the rich that the poor are happier is no more foolish than the conviction of the poor that the rich are.

I do not wish any reward but to know I have done the right thing.

[I] shall never use profanity except in discussing house rent and taxes. Indeed, upon second thought, I will not use it then, for it is unchristian, inelegant, and degrading--though to speak truly I do not see how house rent and taxes are going to be discussed worth a cent without it.