It’s so clear that you have to cherish everyone. I think that’s what I get from these older black women, that every soul is to be cherished, that every flower Is to bloom.

The bookful blockhead, ignorantly read, With loads of learned lumber in his head.

So confident am I in the intentions, as well as wisdom, of the government, that I shall always be satisfied that what is not done, either cannot, or ought not to be done.

Beware of the man who does not return your blow: he neither forgives you nor allows you to forgive yourself.

The poet, being an imitator like a painter or any other artist, must of necessity imitate one of three objects – things as they were or are, things as they are said or thought to be, or things as they ought to be. The vehicle of expression is language – either current terms or, it may be, rare words or metaphors.

I’m telling you there is hope. I have seen it, but it does not come from the governments or corporations. It comes from the people.

Of all the things which wisdom provides to make us entirely happy, much the greatest is the possession of friendship.

If you die you’re completely happy and your soul somewhere lives on. I’m not afraid of dying. Total peace after death, becoming someone else is the best hope I’ve got.

We are braver and wiser because they existed, those strong women and strong men… We are who we are because they were who they were. It’s wise to know where you come from, who called your name.

For me, writing a song, I sit down and the process doesn’t really involve me thinking about the demographic of people I’m trying to hit or who I want to be able to relate to the song or what genre of music it falls under.

All theory, dear friend, is gray, but the golden tree of life springs ever green.

Everywhere the human soul stands between a hemisphere of light and another of darkness; on the confines of the two everlasting empires, necessity and free will.

You can write a song about being in love with someone, but you don’t have to be in love with anyone.

The truth of things is the chief nutriment of superior intellects.

At seventy-seven it is time to be in earnest.

Extreme hopes are born from extreme misery.

The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living from the dead.

Like anything else that happens on its own, the act of writing is beyond currency. Money is great stuff to have, but when it comes to the act of creation, the best thing is not to think of money too much. It constipates the whole process.

Life must be lived and curiosity kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life.

As long as your body is healthy and under control and death is distant, try to save your soul; when death is immanent what can you do?

Instead of being critical of people in authority over you and envious of their position, be happy you’re not responsible for everything they have to do. Instead of piling on complaints, thank them for what they do. Overwhelm them with encouragement and appreciation!

I got a greater purpose. God put something in my heart to get across, and that’s what I’m going to focus on, using my voice as an instrument and doing what needs to be done.

I’m too busy acting like I’m not Naive. I’ve seen it all, I was here first.

Great indebtedness does not make men grateful, but vengeful; and if a little charity is not forgotten, it turns into a gnawing worm.

Everybody loves you when you’re six foot in the ground.

We have two ears and one tongue so that we would listen more and talk less.

Some minds remain open long enough for the truth not only to enter but to pass on through by way of a ready exit without pausing anywhere along the route.

We are all hungry and thirsty for concrete images. Abstract art will have been good for one thing: to restore its exact virginity to figurative art.

Women always excel men in that sort of wisdom which comes from experience. To be a woman is in itself a terrible experience.

You can’t die with an unfinished book.

Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.

It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.

Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!

Music is the voice that tells us that the human race is greater than it knows.

If we’re going to bring out the best in people, we, too, need to sow seeds of encouragement.

Our care should not be to have lived long as to have lived enough.

The best effort of a fine person is felt after we have left their presence.

A book must be the ax for the frozen sea within us.

You see something, then it clicks with something else, and it will make a story. But you never know when it’s going to happen.

The two powers which in my opinion constitute a wise man are those of bearing and forbearing.

Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you.

To make us love our country, our country ought to be lovely.

Wise men don’t need advice. Fools won’t take it.

We can never learn too much of His will towards us, too much of His messages and His advice. The Bible is His word and its study gives at once the foundation for our faith and an inspiration to battle onward in the fight against the tempter.

My heroes are the ones who survived doing it wrong, who made mistakes, but recovered from them.

It is only when we forget all our learning that we begin to know.

Truth is the beginning of every good to the gods, and of every good to man.

Keep a good attitude and do the right thing even when it’s hard. When you do that you are passing the test. And God promises you your marked moments are on their way.

In books lies the soul of the whole past time.

A voice is a human gift; it should be cherished and used, to utter fully human speech as possible. Powerlessness and silence go together.

You can’t do it unless you can imagine it.

I am a walking piece of art every day, with my dreams and my ambitions forward at all times in an effort to inspire my fans to lead their life in that way.

A word after a word after a word is power.

No one can pass through life, any more than he can pass through a bit of country, without leaving tracks behind, and those tracks may often be helpful to those coming after him in finding their way.

The Paralympic Games is about transforming our perception of the world.

You sort of start thinking anything’s possible if you’ve got enough nerve.

The career of a sage is of two kinds: He is either honored by all in the world, Like a flower waving its head, Or else he disappears into the silent forest.

A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.

Be smarter than other people, just don’t tell them so.

The greatest compliment that was ever paid me was when one asked me what I thought, and attended to my answer.

Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.