People who fight fire with fire end up with only the ashes of their own integrity.

No one is born with good character; it's not a hereditary trait. And it isn't determined by a single noble act. Character is established by conscientious adherence to moral values, not by lofty rhetoric or good intentions.

Character determines how we lead our lives, how we deal with life's unearned fortunes and misfortunes and how we make choices that determine how those fortunes and misfortunes work to make us what we become.

America is a song that sounds the best when we all sing together - at least for a while.

What will matter is not your success but your significance.

I think Samuel Johnson had it right when he observed that hope is itself a species of happiness. So if we want to be happy it only makes sense to discipline ourselves to choose our attitudes, to think positively and to be hopeful.

For many of us gratitude to others comes with a sense of debt that can never be fully paid and therefore the things we are thankful for are never really ours.