„As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.“

„Every President hates the Press. Every president thinks that all information that comes to the White House is their private preserve after they all promise an open administration on the campaign trail, but some are even more secretive than others. Some want to lock down everything.“

—  Helen Thomas American author and journalist 1920 - 2013

Phone interview on The Majority Report, 2004-04-02

„No man ever entered the White House under the burden of a more inconvenient past. And no President was ever denounced with greater ferocity. -- said of Andrew Jackson“

—  H.L. Mencken American journalist and writer 1880 - 1956

Review of Andrew Jackson: An Epic in Homespun by Gerald W. Johnson http://www.unz.org/Pub/AmMercury-1928mar-00382, The American Mercury, March 1928, pp. 382-383 (March 1928)
1920s

„Representative democracy betrays the electorate when laws have no roots in the people but in oligarchies. Studies on the concept and modalities of direct democracy are therefore becoming more topical“

—  Alfred de Zayas American United Nations official 1947

Alfred-Maurice de Zayas 2013 Report of the Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order
2013

„The desire to reach for the stars is ambitious. The desire to reach hearts is wise.“

—  Maya Angelou American author and poet 1928 - 2014

„Perhaps some arm, more lucky than the rest,
May reach his heart, and free the world from bondage.“

—  Joseph Addison, book Cato

Act II, scene i.
Cato, A Tragedy (1713)
Context: My voice is still for war.
Gods! Can a Roman senate long debate
Which of the two to choose, slavery or death?
No, let us rise at once,
Gird on our swords, and,
At the head of our remaining troops, attack the foe,
Break through the thick array of his throng'd legions,
And charge home upon him.
Perhaps some arm, more lucky than the rest,
May reach his heart, and free the world from bondage.

„Some people's affability is more deadly than the violence of coarser souls.“

—  Arthur Conan Doyle, book The Adventure of the Illustrious Client

Source: The Adventure of the Illustrious Client

„Real saints are dearest and nearest to my heart. Perfect Ones and lovers of God adorn the world, and will ever do so.“

—  Meher Baba Indian mystic 1894 - 1969

Life Circulars (20 July 1957), p. 77.
General sources
Context: Being the Avatar, I have come to awaken mankind, and would like the entire world to come to me. Real saints are dearest and nearest to my heart. Perfect Ones and lovers of God adorn the world, and will ever do so. The physical presence of the Perfect Masters throughout eternity is not necessarily confined to any particular or special part of the globe. My salutations to all — the past, present and future Perfect Masters, real saints — known and unknown — lovers of God, and to all other beings, in all of whom I reside, whether consciously felt by them or not.

„Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America great.“

—  Barack Obama 44th President of the United States of America 1961

President Barack Obama on Twitter at September 16, 2015 https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/644193755814342656
2015

„With regard to White House officials, it will be up to the President to decide frankly whether and when and under what circumstances members of his [own White House staff] testify.“

—  Mitch McConnell US Senator from Kentucky, Senate Majority Leader 1942

On the need for testimonies by G.W. Bush White House staffers Fox News Sunday http://thinkprogress.org/2007/04/01/fox-catches-mcconnell/ (April 1, 2007)
2007

„Your hearts make all plain in the best wise they would
And the world ye thought waning is glorious and good…“

—  William Morris author, designer, and craftsman 1834 - 1896

Love is Enough (1872), Song II: Have No Thought for Tomorrow
Context: Till again shall the change come, and words your lips say not
Your hearts make all plain in the best wise they would
And the world ye thought waning is glorious and good...

„When television screens had only rare images of black folks, black people were more critically vigilant about these representations. Even when blackness was represented 'positiviely,' as it was in early black television shows like Julia, which focused on the life of a black nurse, the beauty standard was a reflection of white supremacist aesthetics.“

—  Bell Hooks American author, feminist, and social activist 1952

Rock My Soul (2003)

„The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds.“

—  Nicholas Sparks, book The Notebook

Source: The Notebook

„When wisdom reaches the pinnacle of perfection, it will suppress the vicious instincts and injurious desires.“

—  Ali cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad 601 - 661

Majlisi, Bihārul Anwār, vol. 78, p. 6
Regarding Knowledge & Wisdom, Religious

„The desire of love, Joy:
The desire of life, Peace:
The desire of the soul, Heaven:
The desire of God … a flame-white secret forever.“

—  William Sharp (writer) Scottish writer 1855 - 1905

Desire, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).

„The greater perfection a soul aspires after, the more dependent it is upon Divine Grace.“

—  Brother Lawrence French Christian monk 1614 - 1691

From the "Fourth Conversation" in The Practice of the Presence of God at Gutenberg.org http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13871.

„These days people like Yi are more likely to end up in the Blue House or KBS than in jail.“

—  Brian Reynolds Myers American professor of international studies 1963

2010s, League Confederation Goes Outer-Track (September 2018)

„The more I see of the representatives of the people, the more I admire my dogs.“

—  Alphonse de Lamartine French writer, poet, and politician 1790 - 1869

From Count d'Orsay's Letter to John Forster (1850)

„This chill and universal white, the humbleness of the wooden church and the wooden houses scattered along the road, the gloomy forest edging so close that it seemed to threaten, these all spoke of a harsh existence in a stern land.“

—  Louis Hémon, book Maria Chapdelaine

Source: Maria Chapdelaine (1913), Ch. 1, p. 4

„In Cuba, there is no fear of a racial war. Men are more than whites, mulattos or Negroes. Cubans are more than whites, mulattos or Negroes. On the field of battle, dying for Cuba, the souls of whites and Negroes have risen together into the air.“

—  José Martí Poet, writer, Cuban nationalist leader 1853 - 1895

My Race (1893)