Instead of asking 'How much damage will the work in question bring about?' why not ask 'How much good? How much joy?'

It is the American vice, the democratic disease which expresses its tyranny by reducing everything unique to the level of the herd.

Our own physical body possesses a wisdom which we who inhabit the body lack. We give it orders which make no sense.

It isn't the oceans which cut us off from the world - it's the American way of looking at things.

To live without killing is a thought which could electrify the world, if men were only capable of staying awake long enough to let the idea soak in.

The worst sin that can be committed against the artist is to take him at his word, to see in his work a fulfillment instead of an horizon.

There is nothing strange about fear: no matter in what guise it presents itself it is something with which we are all so familiar that when a man appears who is without it we are at once enslaved by him.

The new always carries with it the sense of violation, of sacrilege. What is dead is sacred; what is new, that is different, is evil, dangerous, or subversive.

What does it matter how one comes by the truth so long as one pounces upon it and lives by it?

I have never been able to look upon America as young and vital but rather as prematurely old, as a fruit which rotted before it had a chance to ripen.

Life is constantly providing us with new funds, new resources, even when we are reduced to immobility. In life's ledger there is no such thing as frozen assets.

If I am against the condition of the world, it is not because I am a moralist - it is because I want to laugh more.

Analysis brings no curative powers in its train; it merely makes us conscious of the existence of an evil, which, oddly enough, is consciousness.

The concert is a polite form of self induced torture.

One of the reasons why so few of us ever act, instead of react, is because we are continually stifling our deepest impulses.

Life, as it is called, is for most of us one long postponement.

Any genuine philosophy leads to action and from action back again to wonder, to the enduring fact of mystery.

In the beginning was the Word. Man acts it out. He is the act, not the actor.

The real enemy can always be met and conquered, or won over. Real antagonism is based on love, a love which has not recognized itself.

The Teutons have been singing the swan song ever since they entered the ranks of history. They have always confounded truth with death.

Why are we so full of restraint? Why do we not give in all directions? Is it fear of losing ourselves? Until we do lose ourselves there is no hope of finding ourselves.

When you know what men are capable of you marvel neither at their sublimity nor their baseness. There are no limits in either direction apparently.

Economic growth and environmental protection are not at odds. They're opposite sides of the same coin if you're looking at longer-term prosperity.

In just about every area of society, there's nothing more important than ethics.

When you have a big, ugly problem, there's never going to be a neat, elegant solution that is totally painless or without a cost.

I'm a straightforward person. I like to be direct with people.

In my experience, the most effective professionals in business and government have the ability to get things done. They're trained to work with multiple stakeholders, to understand how to identify a problem, devise solutions, to compromise and work well with others.

If you've got a bazooka, and people know you've got it, you may not have to take it out.

I've long believed the environmental issue is an economic issue and a political issue. The three are entwined. You can't build prosperity on any basis other than a long-term basis, and you can't do that if you don't have a healthy environment.

Regulation needs to catch up with innovation.

A state-based regulatory system is quite burdensome. It allows price controls to create market distortions. It can hinder development of national products and can directly impact the competitiveness of U.S. insurers.

What began as a subprime lending problem has spread to other, less risky mortgages and contributed to excess home inventories that have pushed down home prices for responsible homeowners.

For market discipline to constrain risk effectively, financial institutions must be allowed to fail. Under optimal financial regulatory and financial system infrastructures, such a failure would not threaten the overall system.

U.S. exports to China have more than quintupled since China entered the WTO and have grown more quickly than imports. In fact, China is America's fastest-growing export market.

One of the things I enjoy the most is fishing.

Buying a home today is a complex process, but that in no way excuses home buyers from their obligation for due diligence.

My dad was somewhat of a naturalist and used to teach us about different birds and trees. So did a fifth grade teacher who made a lasting impact on me; to this day, I remember his lessons about counting the needles on pine trees, seeing if they are twisted or straight, and about checking the tips of oak leaves to see if they are pointed or lobed.

India is a vibrant nation whose strength lies in its commitment to equal rights and to speech, religious and economic freedoms that enrich the lives of all citizens. India is not only the world's largest democracy; it is also a secular, pluralistic society committed to inclusive growth.

We've had crooks from the beginning of time... it's always very interesting and troubling why good people do bad things.

In the past, if a homeowner with a mortgage had a problem making the payment, often he'd get together with a lender and strike a deal, because foreclosures are very expensive to the lender and obviously not good for the homeowner and the community.

I grew up on a farm - I know the smell of horse manure. It does smell better than pig manure.

There is a very real danger that financial regulation will become a wolf in sheep's clothing.

I believe that the root cause of every financial crisis, the root cause, is flawed government policies.

Foreclosure is to no one's benefit. I've heard estimates that mortgage investors lose 40 to 50 percent on their investment if it goes into foreclosure.

No bank should be too big or too complex to fail, but almost any bank is too big to liquidate quickly, particularly in the midst of a crisis.

I didn't get the charm gene.

Complexity and interconnectedness matter as much as size in assessing risk in banking.

As I talk with the Chinese on currency, I encourage them to move much more quickly with opening up their capital markets to competition, because I don't believe the world is going to give them as much time as they would like.

I can't help but think what would have happened if a divisive character such as Trump were president during the 2008 financial crisis, at a time when leadership, compromise, and careful analysis were critical.

I grew up on a working farm. It was small, a hundred acres, but we had cows and pigs and chickens and sheep and a vegetable garden. I spent hours pulling weeds, hoeing, feeding the horses, cleaning out the stalls. My dad was a tough taskmaster. I always worked, but we also had fun.