What is a face, really? Its own photo? Its make-up? Or is it a face as painted by such or such painter? That which is in front? Inside? Behind? And the rest? Doesn’t everyone look at himself in his own particular way? Deformations simply do not exist. —Pablo Picasso, Spanish artist

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Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using his intelligence; he is just using his memory. —Leonardo da Vinci, Italian artist

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He who desires, but acts not, breeds pestilence. —William Blake, British poet

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Prisons are built with stones of Law. Brothels with the bricks of religion. —William Blake, British poet

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You cannot have Liberty in this world without what you call Moral Virtue, and you cannot have Moral Virtue without the slavery of that half of the human race who hate what you call Moral Virtue. —William Blake, British poet

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There is no such thing as an impartial jury because there are no impartial people. There are people that argue on the web for hours about who their favorite character on “Friends” is. —Jon Stewart, host of The Daily Show

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There is only one way left to escape the alienation of present day society: to retreat ahead of it. —Roland Barthes, French critic

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Be fair with others, but then keep after them until they’re fair with you. —Alan Alda, Actor

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Begin challenging your own assumptions. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in awhile, or the light won’t come in. —Alan Alda, Actor

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All religions have honored the beggar. For he proves that in a matter at the same time as prosaic and holy, banal and regenerative as the giving of alms, intellect and morality, consistency and principles are miserably inadequate. —Walter Benjamin, German critic

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For me, forgiveness and compassion are always linked: how do we hold people accountable for wrongdoing and yet at the same time remain in touch with their humanity enough to believe in their capacity to be transformed? —bell hooks, black feminist social critic

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I always tell my students that Malcolm X came both to his spirituality and to his consciousness as a thinker when he had solitude to read. Unfortunately, tragically, like so many young black males, that solitude only came in prison. —bell hooks, black feminist social critic

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