Almost everything about a human creature is ridiculous, except its ability to suffer bravely and die gallantly for whatever it loves and believes in. The validity of that belief, the appropriateness of that love, is irrelevant; it is the bravery and the gallantry that count.

One of the sanest, surest, and most generous joys of life comes from being happy over the good fortune of others.

Your enemy is never a villain in his own eyes.

In past history popularly elected governments have been no better and sometimes far worse than overt tyrannies.

Must be a yearning deep in human heart to stop other people from doing as they please. Rules, laws - always for other fellow. A murky part of us, something we had before we came down out of trees, and failed to shuck when we stood up.

Jill: 'I don't pay attention to politics.' Ben: 'You should. It's barely less important than your own heart beat.' Jill: 'I don't pay attention to that, either.'

The lessons of history teach us - if the lessons of history teach us anything - that nobody learns the lessons that history teaches us.