society

One of the most realistic parts of Lord of the Rings is that almost no one wanted to get involved, until it was very nearly too late.

Money is everywhere but so is poetry. What we lack are the poets.

I can’t be everything to everyone. I kind of made peace with it years ago—that at this particular phase of my life, this is what I need and this is what I want. It’s also the reason why I’m very particular about who I spend my time with because I do believe that there are genuinely energy vampires and energy catalysts in humans.

Whenever I meet someone, I try to imagine him or her wearing an invisible sign that says: MAKE ME FEEL IMPORTANT! I respond to this sign immediately, and it works wonders.

New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not common.

We were born of risen apes, not fallen angels. And so what shall we wonder at? Our murders and massacres and missiles, and our irreconcilable regiments? Or our treaties whatever they may be worth; our symphonies however seldom they may be played; our peaceful acres, however frequently they may be converted into battlefields; our dreams however rarely they may be accomplished. The miracle of man is not how far he has sunk but how magnificently he has risen.

Those who promise us paradise on earth never produced anything but a hell.

What we see in people is determined, in large part, by what we expect to find.

It is not that we have a deficit of resources. We have a surplus of greed.

The rich are those who play to win. The middle class plays not to lose.