God has bestowed two gifts on man: hope and ignorance. Ignorance is the better of the two.

Superstition, bigotry and prejudice, ghosts though they are, cling tenaciously to life; they are shades armed with tooth and claw. They must be grappled with unceasingly, for it is a fateful part of human destiny that it is condemned to wage perpetual war against ghosts. A shade is not easily taken by the throat and destroyed.

If you would civilize a man, begin with his grandmother.

The need of the immaterial is the most deeply rooted of all needs. One must have bread; but before bread, one must have the ideal.

We are on the side of religion as opposed to religions, and we are among those who believe in the wretched inadequacy of sermons and the sublimity of prayer.

Daring is the price of progress. All splendid conquests are the prize of boldness, more or less.

God will reward you,' he said. 'You must be an angel since you care for flowers.