All excellent things are as difficult as they are rare

Youcan't turn back the clock. But you can wind it up again.

I haveoften regretted my speech, never my silence.

A gem is not polished without rubbing, nor is a man perfected without trials.

The exercise of power is determined by thousands ofinteractions between the world of the powerful and that of the powerless, allthe more so because these worlds are never divided by a sharp line: everyonehas a small part of himself in both.

One hallmark of freedom is the sound of laughter.

Thedirect use of force is such a poor solution to any problem,it is generally employed only by small children and large nations.

Everyone speaks well of his heart, but no one dares to say it of his dead.

Before youbuild a better mousetrap, make sure you have some mice out there.

No onewould talk much in society; if he knew how often he misunderstands others.

Don'tcut off your nose to spite your face.

My greenthumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to seethings from the plant's point of view.