Now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates.

That's the big picture, your happiness. And health. You should never care what a man thinks of you -- until he demonstrates to you that he cares about making you happy. If he isn't trying to make you happy, then send him back from "whence" he came because winning him over will have no benefit. At the end of the day, happines, joy...and yes...your emotional stability...those comprise the only measuring stick you really need to have.

For many, love is a two-sided coin. It can strengthen or stifle, expand or enfeeble, perfect or pauperize. When love is returned, we soar. We are taken to heights unseen, where it delights, invigorates, and beautifies. When love is spurned, we feel crippled, disconsolate, and bereaved. Polish the coin and you will see only requited love on both sides. I was destined to love you and I will belong to you forever.

What is love? There is nothing in the world, neither man nor Devil nor any thing, that I hold as suspect as love, for it penetrates the soul more than any other thing. Nothing exists that so fills and binds the heart as love does. Therefore, unless you have those weapons that subdue it, the soul plunges through love into an immense abyss.

"You see the first thing we love is a scene. For love at first sight requires the very sign of its suddenness; and of all things, it is the scene which seems to be seen best for the first time: a curtain parts and what had not yet ever been seen is devoured by the eyes: the scene consecrates the object I am going to love. The context is the constellation of elements, harmoniously arranged that encompass the experience of the amorous subject...

"On the surface, I was calm: in secret, without really admitting it, I was waiting for something. Her return? How could I have been waiting for that? We all know that we are material creatures, subject to the laws of physiology and physics, and not even the power of all our feelings combined can defeat those laws. All we can do is detest them. The age-old faith of lovers and poets in the power of love, stronger than death, that finis vitae sed non amoris, is a lie, useless and not even funny. So must one be resigned to being a clock that measures the passage of time, now out of order, now repaired, and whose mechanism generates despair and love as soon as its maker sets it going? Are we to grow used to the idea that every man relives ancient torments, which are all the more profound because they grow comic with repetition? That human existence should repeat itself, well and good, but that it should repeat itself like a hackneyed tune, or a record a drunkard keeps playing as he feeds coins into the jukebox...

To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.

Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.

Talent in cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.

More and more political analysts and weak-kneed politicians are advising the historically pro-life Republican Party to abandon its pro-life stance for political gain. My first response is that if you cannot trust a party on the value of defending human life how can you trust it on issues like marginal tax rates?

We all know we have a problem a broad problem. Ninety-eight percent of the fuel that is used by our vehicles our autos and trucks for personal and commercial purposes for highway and air travel operates on oil. The world has the same problem.

Investing in industries and technology for the 21st century generates high-skilled high-wage jobs for industries of the future.

Interest does not tie nations together it sometimes separates them. But sympathy and understanding does unite them.

One is never ready for success. It consecrates and looses you at the same time.

Success consecrates the most offensive crimes.

It certainly is dangerous that there are only a few clubs left in Europe that can afford to pay millions. At the end of the day however the spectators decide the rates of pay - by watching the games and consuming the goods and services advertised on sports TV programmes.

Watching people just look out for themselves I think is extremely interesting. It goes right back to something like 'The Beggar's Opera' - the underbelly of society how it operates and how that reflects their so-called betters.

If you look at the footballers you look at our celebrity culture we seem to be saying 'This is the way you want to be'. We seem to be a society that celebrates all the wrong people.

The devastating punch we took on September 11th still reverberates throughout American society.

The Holocaust illustrates the consequences of prejudice racism and stereotyping on a society. It forces us to examine the responsibilities of citizenship and confront the powerful ramifications of indifference and inaction.

American society as a whole can never achieve the outer-reaches of potential so long as it tolerates the inner cities of despair.

A civilized society is one which tolerates eccentricity to the point of doubtful sanity.

I regard romantic comedies as a subgenre of sci-fi in which the world operates according to different rules than my regular human world.

One thing that I feel very very strongly is that we talk about Islamic countries Islamic people Islamic leaders as either moderates or extremists. It's almost like there are only two categories of Muslims. And actually that doesn't show respect. It shows lack of understanding of the diversity of Muslim thought.