"Your paradigm is so intrinsic to your mental process that you are hardly aware of its existence, until you try to communicate with someone with a different paradigm."

"The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair; and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater."

"A joke was not a single-use item but something you brought out again and again until it fell apart in your hand like a cheap umbrella."

"Remember, the greatest gift is not found in a store nor under a tree, but in the hearts of true friends."

"A good inclination is but the first rude draught of virtue, but the finishing strokes are from the will, which, if well disposed, will by degrees perfect it, as if all disposed will quickly deface it."

"We'll do all right if we can capitalize on our mistakes."

"Women want mediocre men, and men are working to become as mediocre as possible."

"It may be that our role on this planet is not to worship God-but to create him."

"Babylon violated diminishes Alexander; Rome enslaved diminishes Caesar; massacred Jerusalem diminishes Titus. Tyranny follows the tyrant. Woe to the man who leaves behind a shadow that bears his form."

"A thing can be true and still be desperate folly."

"Perfection does not come from belief or faith. Talk does not count for anything. Parrots can do that. Perfection comes through selfless work."

"Women constitute half the world's population, perform nearly two-thirds of its work hours, receive one-tenth of the world's income and own less than one-hundredth of the world's property."