A society that has more justice is a society that needs less charity. 

~ Ralph Nader, activist, author, speaker, and attorney (b. 1934) 

Dreams are the touchstones of our characters. 

~ Henry David Thoreau

A man should always consider how much he has more than he wants and how much more unhappy he might be than he really is.

~ Joseph Addison

There are many ways to be free. One of them is to transcend reality by imagination, as I try to do. 

~ Anais Nin, writer (1903-1977)

There are two types of writers: those who make you think and those who make you dream.

~ Brian Aldiss

Barricades of ideas are worth more than barricades of stones. 

~ José Martí, revolutionary and poet (1853-1895) 

Do you love me because I'm beautiful, or am I beautiful because you love me? 

~ Oscar Hammerstein II, lyricist (1895-1960) 

It will not do to investigate the subject of religion too closely, as it is apt to lead to infidelity. 

~ Abraham Lincoln, 16th US President (1809-1865)

We must, however, acknowledge, as it seems to me, that man with all his noble qualities...still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin. 

~ Charles Darwin, naturalist and author (1809-1882) 

Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages. 

~ Thomas Edison, inventor (1847-1931) 

The institution of royalty in any form is an insult to the human race. 

~ Mark Twain, author and humorist (1835-1910)

Persons appear to us according to the light we throw upon them from our own minds. 

~ Laura Ingalls Wilder, novelist (1867-1957)

A free society is a place where it's safe to be unpopular. 

~ Adlai Stevenson, governor, ambassador (1900-1965) 

There's a schizoid quality to our relationship with animals, in which sentiment and brutality exist side by side. Half the dogs in America will receive Christmas presents this year, yet few of us pause to consider the miserable life of the pig - an animal easily as intelligent as a do - that becomes the Christmas ham. 

~ Michael Pollan, professor and writer (b. 1955)

Life is like a landscape. You live in the midst of it, but can describe it only from the vantage point of distance. 

~ Charles A. Lindbergh, aviator and author (1902-1974) 

I don't trust a man who uses the word evil eighteen times in ten minutes. If you're half evil, nothing soothes you more than to think the person you are opposed to is totally evil. 

~ Norman Mailer, author (1923-2007) 

War is the unfolding of miscalculations. 

~ Barbara Tuchman, historian (1912-1989)