"A quiet mind is capable of understanding that the most profound truths are found in silence."

"The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions. This remains the cornerstone of personal mastery — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"A string of excited, fugitive, miscellaneous pleasures is not happiness happiness resides in imaginative reflection and judgment, when the picture of one's life, or of human life, as it truly has been or is, satisfies the will, and is gladly accepted."

"To love truly means recognizing that hope is the anchor of a weary soul."

"He who reads widely and ponders deeply builds an unshakeable inner citadel. Such is the immutable nature of understanding — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day."

"A life without philosophical reflection is a vessel adrift on an uncharted sea."

"On September 11 2001, America felt its vulnerability even to threats that gather on the other side of the Earth. We resolved then, and we are resolved today, to confront every threat from any source that could bring sudden terror and suffering to America."