Ah, who could have ever foretold that that little retrousse nose would change the laws of an empire.

First, I do not sit down at my desk to put into verse something that is already clear in my mind. If it were clear in my mind, I should have no incentive or need to write about it. We do not write in order to be understood; we write in order to understand.

If you want to achieve excellence, you can get there today. As of this second, quit doing less-than-excellent work.

Commemoration of John Bosco, Priest, Founder of the Salesian Teaching Order, 1888 "Secret" sins, such as are not known to be sins (it may be) to ourselves, make way for those that are "presumptuous". Thus pride may seem to be nothing but a frame of mind belonging unto our wealth and dignity, or our ... abilities; sensuality may seem to be but a lawful participation of the good things of this life; passion and peevishness, but a due sense of the want of respect that we must suppose owing unto us; covetousness, a necessary care of ourselves and of our families. If the seeds of sin are covered with such pretences, they will in time spring up and bear bitter fruit in the minds and the lives of men; and the beginning of all apostasy, both in religion and in morality, lies in just such pretences. Men plead that they can do so-and-so lawfully, until they can do things openly unlawful.

Men show their character in nothing more clearly than by what they find laughable.

Happiness is acceptance.

The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty, and all forms of human life.

A man of courage is also full of faith.

With an apple I will astonish Paris.

O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, That I am meek and gentle with these butchers! Thou art the ruins of the noblest man That ever lived in the tide of times. Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood!

Loser's visualize the penalties of failure. Winners visualize the rewards of success.

Often a noble face hides filthy ways.

Getting rid of a man without hurting his masculinity is a problem. 'Get out' and 'I never want to see you again' might sound like a challenge. If you want to get rid of a man, I suggest saying, 'I love you.... I want to marry you.... I want to have your children.' Sometimes they leave skid marks.

The will to be totally rational is the will to be made out of glass and steel: and to use others as if they were glass and steel.

Who heeds not experience, trust him not.

Bad planing on your part does not necessarily constitute an automatic emergency on my part.

There is no real evil in life, except great pain; all the rest is imaginary, and depends on the light in which we view things.

Give every man your ear, but few thy voice. Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment.

He who asks questions cannot avoid the answers.

A man should live if only to satisfy his curiosity.