Many a secret that cannot be pried out by curiosity can be drawn out by indifference.

Democracy is the only system that persists in asking the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought to be.

The art of listening needs its highest development in listening to oneself; our most important task is to develop an ear that can really hear what we're saying.

We have not passed that subtle line between childhood and adulthood until we have stopped saying 'It got lost,' and say, 'I lost it.'

Making out an invitation list for a party brings out the worst in everyone. It is then that our most ruthless estimates of the people we know come into play.

The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility, but the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to war.

The pessimist sees only the tunnel; the optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel; the realist sees the tunnel and the light - and the next tunnel.