We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.

Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.

It's the truth I'm after, and the truth never harmed anyone. What harms us is to persist in self-deceit and ignorance.

I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.

Nothing can now be believed which is seen in the newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle.

If you cannot be honest with yourself, there is no hope of being honest with anyone else.

The purpose of Propaganda is to make one set of people forget that other sets of people are human.

Truly, to tell lies is not honorable; but when the truth entails tremendous ruin, to speak dishonorably is pardonable.

Next to the assumption of power is the responsibility of relinquishing it.

But what is happiness except for the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads.

Here the people could stand it no longer and complained of the long voyage; but the Admiral cheered them as best he could, holding out good hope of the advantages they would have.

He who does not desire power is fit to hold it.

He who fears the sun will not become chief.

I want you to be everything that's you, deep at the center of your being.

I am the inferior of any man whose rights I trample underfoot. Men are no superior by reason of the accidents of race and color. The are superior who have the best heart—the best brain.

The overwhelming importance of the atmosphere means that there are no longer any frontiers to defend against pollution, attack, or propaganda. It means, further, that only by a deep patriotic devotion to one’s country can there be a hope of the kind of protection of the whole planet, which is necessary for the survival of the people of other countries.

The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.

In this age, the man who dares to think for himself and to act independently does a service to his race.

Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really man it.

If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.

In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one is useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress.

That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach.

Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute.

When whole races and peoples conspire to propagate gigantic mute lies in the interest of tyrannies and shams, why should we care anything about the trifling lies told by individuals?

If most of us remain ignorant of ourselves, it is because self-knowledge is painful and we prefer the pleasures of illusion.

A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.

We should seek the truth without hesitation; and, if we refuse it, we show that we value the esteem of men more than the search for truth.

Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.

Freedom of information is a fundamental human right...for a nation that is afraid to let its people to judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.

It was not the truth they wanted, but an illusion they could bear to live with.

Plato is my friend; Aristotle is my friend, but my greatest friend is truth.

If you compromise your own conscience, you will weaken your conscience. Soon your conscience will fail to guide you and you never will have real wealth based on peace of mind.