Popular government has not yet been proved to guarantee, always and everywhere, good government.

A rational man acting in the real world may be defined as one who decides where he will strike a balance between what he desires and what can be done.

We are all captives of the picture in our head - our belief that the world we have experienced is the world that really exists.

It is perfectly true that that government is best which governs least. It is equally true that that government is best which provides most.

I do not despise genius-indeed, I wish I had a basketful of it. But yet, after a great deal of experience and observation, I have become convinced that industry is a better horse to ride than genius. It may never carry any man as far as genius has carried individuals, but industry-patient, steady, intelligent industry-will carry thousands into comfort, and even celebrity; and this it does with absolute certainty.

Every fairly intelligent person is aware that the price of respectability is a muffled soul bent on the trivial and the mediocre.

He has honor if he holds himself to an ideal of conduct though it is inconvenient, unprofitable, or dangerous to do so.