I have brought myself, by long meditation, to the conviction that a human being with settled purpose must accomplish it, and that nothing can resist a will which will stake even existence upon its fulfillment.

An irresistible passion that would induce me to believe in innate ideas and the truth of prophecy has decided my career. I have always loved liberty with the enthusiasm which actuates the religious man with the passion of a lover and with the conviction of a geometrician.

That deep emotional conviction of the presence of a superior reasoning power, which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of God.

The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.

The deepest thing in any one is the conviction of the bad luck that follows boasting.

In the age-old contest between popularity and principle, only those willing to lose for their convictions are deserving of posterity’s approval.

Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.

A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures.

When the intensity of emotional conviction subsides, a man who is in the habit of reasoning will search for logical grounds in favor of the belief which he finds in himself.

Now if I carry out this oath, and break it not, may I gain forever reputation among all men for my life and for my art; but if I transgress it and forswear myself, may the opposite befall me.

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.

A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.

Keep your mind off the things you don’t want by keeping it on the things you do want.