Surely human affairs would be far happier if the power in men to be silent were the same as that to speak. But experience more than sufficiently teaches that men govern nothing with more difficulty than their tongues.

Let thy speech be short, comprehending much in few words

Man's tongue is soft, and bone doth lack; yet a stroke therewith may break a man's back.

Silence is one of the great arts of conversation.

Words are more treacherous and powerful than we think.

Understanding a question is half an answer.

The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.

It takes two years to learn to speak and sixty to learn to keep quiet.

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

There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.

If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy and inspires your hopes.

Such sober certainty of walking bliss.

A kind heart is a fountain of gladness, making everything in its vicinity freshen into smiles.

Happiness is a quality of the soul, not a function of one's material circumstances.

I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.

Happy the man, and happy he alone, he who can call today his own; he who, secure within, can say, tomorrow, do thy worst, for I have lived today.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Unhappiness is best defined as the difference between our talents and our expectations.

I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be.

Never allow a person to tell you no who doesn’t have the power to say yes.

Nowadays the world is becoming increasingly materialistic, and mankind is reaching toward the very zenith of external progress, driven by an insatiable desire for power and vast possessions. Yet by this vain striving for perfection in a world where everything is relative, they wander even further away from inward peace and happiness of the mind.

An aspiration is a joy forever, a possession as solid as a landed estate, a fortune which we can never exhaust and which gives us year by year a revenue of pleasurable activity.

You are the only person who thinks in your mind. You are the power and authority in your world.

Great wisdom is generous, petty wisdom is contentious. Great speech is impassioned, small speech in cantankerous.

The right to free speech is more important than the content of the speech.

Silence at the proper season is wisdom, and better than any speech.

The day will soon come when I will show the world that the transmission of power and speech without the aid of any wires is possible.

Some people’s idea of free speech is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone says anything back, that is an outrage.

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

The only way to make sure people you agree with can speak is to support the rights of people you don’t agree with.

Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.

The thought of only being a creature of the present and the past was troubling. I longed for a future, too, with hope in it. The desire to be free, awakened my determination to act, to think, and to speak.