Some of us learned in a school of philosophy which taught that all was for the common good and nothing for oneself and have never in any case regarded the pursuit of happiness as anything other than an aberration of the human spirit.

The principle we call self-love never seeks anything external for the sake of the thing but only as a means of happiness or good: particular affections rest in the external things themselves.

Life is made up of small pleasures. Happiness is made up of those tiny successes. The big ones come too infrequently. And if you don't collect all these tiny successes the big ones don't really mean anything.

This nation is notorious for its ability to make or fake anything cheaply. 'Made-in-China' goods now fill homes around the world. But our giant country has a small problem. We can't manufacture the happiness of our people.

He who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition will waste his life in fruitless efforts.

If virtue promises happiness prosperity and peace then progress in virtue is progress in each of these for to whatever point the perfection of anything brings us progress is always an approach toward it.

He who waits to do a great deal of good at once will never do anything.

Let's face it - think of Africa and the first images that come to mind are of war poverty famine and flies. How many of us really know anything at all about the truly great ancient African civilizations which in their day were just as splendid and glorious as any on the face of the earth?

So Bush certainly wasn't the greatest and Obama has not done the job. And he's created a lot of disincentive. He's created a lot of great dissatisfaction. Regulations and regulatory is going through the roof. It's almost impossible to get anything done in the country.

History shows that the majority of people that have done anything great have passed their youth in seclusion.