"Swans sing before they die - 'twere no bad thing should certain persons die before they sing."

"In politics, what begins in fear usually ends in failure."

"A poet ought not to pick nature's pocket. Let him borrow, and so borrow as to repay by the very act of borrowing. Examine nature accurately, but write from recollection, and trust more to the imagination than the memory."

"To most men experience is like the stern lights of a ship, which illuminate only the track it has passed."

"The darkest nights often reveal that the strength of a community lies in its compassion."

"Religious beliefs evolved by group-selection, tribe competing against tribe, and the illogic of religions is not a weakness but their essential strength."

"Strength does not come from winning, but from knowing that the simplest acts of love resonate the loudest."

"Never underestimate the power of the echo of our deeds ripples through eternity."