“As is our confidence, so is our capacity”

“It is not so much the major events as the small day-to-day decisions that map the course of our living. . . Our lives are, in reality, the sum total of our seemingly unimportant decisions and of our capacity to live by those decisions.”

“Resolved ... that it would be a dangerous delusion were a confidence in the men of our choice to silence our fears for the safety of our rights: that confidence is everywhere the parent of despotism — free government is founded in jealousy, and not in confidence;”

“It is not so much our friends' help that helps us as the confident knowledge that they will help us.”

“Our joy now and forever is inextricably tied to our capacity to love.”

“Science of happiness lies in our understanding. The secrets of happiness lie in our capacity to expand our heart.”