It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it.
Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike.
Socks are Dobby's favorite, favorite clothes, sir! I has seven now, sir. . . . But sir ...they has made a mistake in the shop, Harry Potter, they is giving you two the same!
It is my belief that the truth is generally preferable to lies.
"The truth." Dumbledore sighed. "It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and therefore should be treated with caution..."
"One can never have enough socks," said Dumbledore. "Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn't get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books."
You place too much importance, and you always have done, on the so-called purity of blood! You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be!
You think the dead we loved ever truly leave us? You think that we don't recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble? Your father is alive in you, Harry, and shows himself most plainly when you have need of him. How else could you produce that particular Patronus? Prongs rode again last night.
I hope you're pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed — or worse, expelled.
The consequences of our actions are always so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed.