It was not even necessary to formulate that idea as a specific thought.

The mere thought hadn't even begun to speculate about the merest possibility of crossing my mind.

I never have the nagging doubt of wondering whether perhaps I am wrong.

It is not worth while to consider whether a truth be useful—it is enough that it is a truth.

One doesn't bother to believe the credible: the credible is believed already, by definition. There's no adventure of the mind. (1:313)

Quettil, it doesn't matter," the King said airily, waving one hand. "I prefer accuracy to flattery.

I can honestly say that I was never affected by the question of the success of an undertaking. If I felt it was the right thing to do, I was for it regardless of the possible outcome.

Single facts almost never slay worldviews, at least not right away.

It never occurred to you that they might be flattering you, because you don't lie.

I never think of myself as an icon. What is in other people's minds is not in my mind. I just do my thing.

There's no correlation between expressing an idea assertively or charismatically, and having a good idea.

Flora wasn’t sure she liked that in the abstract; whom a man knew shouldn’t have mattered so much as what he knew. But that didn’t change reality one bit.

Mr. Stanton never questioned his own authority to command, unless resisted. He cared nothing for the feeling of others. In fact it seemed to be pleasanter to him to disappoint than to gratify.

As it turned out, imagining the fate of seven billion people was far less emotionally affecting than imagining the fate of one.