"I have gotten the sense that developments when it comes to human rights are very alarming. In the long term, it needs to be in our interest to have a Turkey in which human rights are respected. Anything else would mean destabilization right on our border. If we look away, the developments in Turkey will constantly get worse."

“Crowd action is the outcome of agreement based on concurrence of emotion rather than of thought ...”

“To create one's world in any of the arts takes courage.”

“When an economist says the evidence is "mixed," he or she means that theory says one thing and data says the opposite.”

“We would never have scales, feathers, or breasts if we didn't have teeth in the first place.”

Source : Neil Shubin (2008). “Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body”, p.79, Vintage

“There is no reason in the world why we shouldn't fight for the preservation of a chance to live freely, no reason why we shouldn't suffer to uphold that which we want to endure. May God give me the courage to do my duty and not falter.”

Source : Letter to his parents regarding World War II, April 25, 1941.

“Corruption is a fact of life in America as in Afganistan, but as American citizens, if we are white, we tend to experience it as an opportunity cost. I live in Washington, DC, where the city council is notoriously corrupt. But how do I experience that? Maybe in streets that are not as well paved as they could be, maybe in a bridge that costs a lot more money than it should have. That's a little bit abstract - shocking, of course - but still abstract.”

“True states of realization occur when you throw away all the teachings. All of the teachings, absolutely. Everything. Then you are investigation itself finding out what you are.”

Source : A. H. Almaas (2011). “Diamond Heart: Book Five: Inexhaustible Mystery”, p.224, Shambhala Publications

“I'm going to build my own slam.”