Culture

The Dutch and the Danish are said to be among the happiest people on earth, which I can't help but imagine must have something to do with their bike culture.
--Michael Kimmelman

Motion

I hope I never get tired of how it feels to just be in motion, on a bike.
--Mike Ferrentino

Mourn

After a death we mourn not only the deceased but also the version of ourselves we got to be with that person.
--Meghan O'Rourke

Sanity

Developing an adequate response to rejection, neither defensive nor sentimental, lies at the heart of any serious attempt at sanity.
--Alain de Botton

Refinement

I have focused on several qualities in need of refinement in my soul: patience, tenderness, and warmth.
--Curiouser California

Moving

I find that the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.
--Oliver Wendell Holmes

Everything Except

Obey your head. Obey your heart. Obey your gut. In fact, obey everything except commands.
--Matt Haig

The Soul

The Soul selects her own Society--
Then--shuts the Door--
--Emily Dickinson

You think...?

A lot of Christians wear crosses around their necks. You think when Jesus comes back he ever wants to see a fucking cross? It's like going up to Jackie Onassis wearing a rifle pendant.
--Bill Hicks

Spanking as a means of discipline is premised on the idea that violence can communicate or "teach lessons." That is a fairy tale we tell ourselves to justify our baser instincts. It's false in parenting, in adult relationships, in geopolitics, everywhere.
--David Roberts

Funny

You cannot be memorably funny without at some point raising topics which the rich, the powerful and the complacent would prefer to see left alone.
--George Orwell

Republic

When once a republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.
--Thomas Jefferson

Kill

How many people do you have to kill before you qualify to be described as a mass murderer and a war criminal?
--Harold Pinter

Knowledge

The essence of Christianity is told to us in the Garden of Eden history. The fruit that was forbidden was on the Tree of Knowledge. The subtext is: All the suffering you have is because you wanted to find out what was going on. You could be in the Garden of Eden if you had just kept your fucking mouth shut and hadn't asked any questions.
--Frank Zappa

Action

Prayer is meaningless if not married to moral action.
--Danielle Berrin

I See

I can't believe what you say, because I see what you do.
--James Baldwin

Compounding

Confidence is a compounding commodity. It builds on itself.
--Charles M. Blow

Fail

Words fail us like the fabrications they are.
--Diane Ackerman

Concealed

The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them.
--Patrick Henry

Enough

Agnostics are often assumed to be wishy-washy--that they dither and um when asked about greater things. But actually, agnostics have a firm belief: they do not have enough information to conclusively be either a believer or an unbeliever.
--Gautam Raja