“[re: Abraham Lincoln. ] "For whatever reason, and I can't explain why - that moment at which one is drawn into the orbit, irrevocably, of a life. I felt the tug of that orbit. I didn't know why; I was quite alarmed by it…"”

“I was almost driven to madness in considering and calculating this matter. I could not find out why the planet would rather go on an elliptical orbit. Oh, ridiculous me! As the liberation in the diameter could not also be the way to the ellipse. So this notion brought me up short, that the ellipse exists because of the liberation. With reasoning derived from physical principles, agreeing with experience, there is no figure left for the orbit of the planet but a perfect ellipse.”

“All my dreams are in black and white. I believe this is the main reason why I can't be a racist in life.”

“I don't know how long I kept at it…
I felt reasonably safe, streched out on the floor, and lay quite still.
It didn't seem to be summer any more”

“In the end, I always act from the heart, even if I also value reason and tradition. I wish I could explain why, but I don't know.”

“If I were to be totally sincere, I would say that I do not know why I live and why I do not stop living. The answer probably lies in the irrational character of life which maintains itself without reason.”

“What has changed is that I've gained a lot more sympathy for Lincoln. At the time I was doing my dissertation I tended to take the Wendell Phillips view of Lincoln. Why didn't he move more quickly? Why was he so conservative on some of these issues? Why didn't he seize this revolutionary moment? The more I've learned about it, the more I realize that Lincoln was under extraordinary pressure from all sides. In his position he could not have acted like Wendell Phillips. He would have lost the whole war.”

“Oh, I'm starting to cry again. That's what happens when you think about life being fair. And I can't explain why it isn't… I don't think it's something anybody knows.”

“I live my life in growing orbits which move out over this wondrous world, I am circling around God, around ancient towers and i have been circling for a thousand years. And I still dont know if I am an eagle or a storm or a great song.”

“I have to go, but I can't explain the reasons of my choice to you. At this moment things are testifying against me. I fight for cause that can't be understood at this time, but one day people will see that I stood on the side of what is right.”