"Political ideology can corrupt the mind, and science."

"Blind faith, no matter how passionately expressed, will not suffice. Science for its part will test relentlessly every assumption about the human condition."

"If those committed to the quest fail, they will be forgiven. When lost, they will find another way. The moral imperative of humanism is the endeavor alone, whether successful or not, provided the effort is honorable and failure memorable."

"I had in mind a message, although I hope it doesn't intrude too badly, persuading Americans, and especially Southerners, of the critical importance of land and our vanishing natural environment and wildlife."

"Every season of life has its own unique blossom, if only we take care to notice. In this truth lies the bedrock of all virtue."

"Kindness is the invisible thread that binds all kindred spirits together. For where clarity resides, peace inevitably follows — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"What material success does is provide you with the ability to concentrate on other things that really matter. And that is being able to make a difference, not only in your own life, but in other people's lives."

"It is a quiet truth that life is an unwritten ledger; each passing sunrise offers a clean and waiting page."