"Belief is a toxic and dangerous attitude toward reality. After all, if it's there it doesn't require your belief- and if it's not there why should you believe in it?"

“That if you’re poor, somehow you’re shiftless and lazy.”

“What does it mean to regret when you have no choice? It's what you can bear. And there it is... It was death. I chose life.”

“A balanced guest list of mixed elements is to a successful party what the seasoning is to a culinary triumph.”

Source : Letitia Baldrige (1968). “Of Diamonds and Diplomats”, New York : Ballantine Books

“If a foreign government had imposed this system of education on the United States, we would rightly consider it an act of war.”

“'But surely "blind" is just how you would describe men who have no true knowledge of reality, and no clear standard in their mind to refer to, as a painter refers to his model, and which they can study closely before they start laying down rules about what is fair or right or good where they are needed, or maintaining, as Guardians, any rules that already exist.' 'Yes, blind is just about what they are'”

“Social media and music in general have been changing so fast. You can go on Twitter and go from one artist to another. What I really like about it is the opportunity to communicate directly with your fans.”

Source : "Juanes: A Rocker with 'Corazon' Is Poised to Cross Over (Q&A)". Interview with Roy Trakin, www.hollywoodreporter.com. January 25, 2014.

“The rise of Islam offers perhaps the most impressive example in world history of the power of words to alter human behavior in sudden, surprising ways.”

Source : "Keeping Together in Time". Book by William Hardy McNeill, Ch. 4: Religious Ceremonies, 1995.

“We look at the world through our likes and dislikes, hopes and fears, opinions and judgments. We want everyone to behave as we think they should; otherwise we get agitated. But we are here to accept the world as it is, even as we work to make it better.”