A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past, his is also one who is permanently disappointed in the future.

As we grow older, we should learn that these are two quite different things. Character is something you forge for yourself; temperament is something you are born with and can only slightly modify. Some people have easy temperaments and weak characters; others have difficult temperaments and strong characters. We are all prone to confuse the two in assessing people we associate with. Those with easy temperaments and weak characters are more likable than admirable; those with difficult temperaments and strong characters are more admirable than likable.

Perseverance is the most overrated of traits, if it is unaccompanied by talent; beating your head against a wall is more likely to produce a concussion in the head than a hole in the wall.

It wants to be, and proclaims itself to be, 'the greatest', but greatness is not required of a country; only goodness is.

Ignorance per se is not nearly as dangerous as ignorance of ignorance.

Ancient boundaries are meaningless, except for political purposes; old divisions of clan and tribe are sentimental remnants of the pre-atomic age; neither creed nor color nor place of origin is relevant to the realities of modern power to utterly seek and destroy.

Skepticism is not an end in itself; it is a tool for the discovery of truths.