But sports carried me away from being in a gang, or being associated with drugs. Sports was my way out.

The difficulties you meet will resolve themselves as you advance. Proceed, and light will dawn, and shine with increasing clearness on your path.

I’m sure I’ve changed my mind about something. Inevitably, when we grow up – as we get more experience and wiser. Well, I’ve changed my mind about some food that I didn’t like when I was young.

Spiritual people don’t float around all day on clouds of glory; they live in the real world and deal with real issues in real ways.

If a man watches three football games in a row, he should be declared legally dead.

Always take hold of things by the smooth handle.

The major value in life is not what you get. The major value in life is what you become.

Honor thy error as a hidden intention.

Freedom comes only to those who no longer ask of life that it shall yield them any of those personal goods that are subject to the mutations of time.

Self-pity in its early stage is as snug as a feather mattress. Only when it hardens does it become uncomfortable.

We rarely confide in those who are better than we are.

My priority is cricket. Everything that I get apart from it is a result of the effort on the field. Everything else follows. I am pretty aware of my priorities, and I don’t really focus on things that are not as important to me as cricket.

Adventuring can be for the ordinary person with ordinary qualities, such as I regard myself.

I have learned that as long as I hold fast to my beliefs and values – and follow my own moral compass – then the only expectations I need to live up to are my own.

The beginning of compunction is the beginning of a new life.

Nothing surprises me anymore in the NFL.

I didn’t leave bodybuilding until I felt that I had gone as far as I could go. It will be the same with my film career. When I feel the time is right, I will then consider public service. I feel that the highest honor comes from serving people and your country.

I have always been regretting that I was not as wise as the day I was born.

I built a label at the same time I built a career.

I’m very, very serious – I’m serious enough not to take myself too seriously. That means I can be completely wedded to the moment. But when I leave that moment, I want to be completely wedded to the next moment.

It’s a philosophy of life. A practice. If you do this, something will change, what will change is that you will change, your life will change, and if you can change you, you can perhaps change the world.

I’ve had no contact with my daughter for years. That’s her choice. Anyway, you move on. If people don’t want to bother with me, fine. You know, God bless them, and move on.

Vulnerability is basically uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure.

Players today moan about the number of games, but when you’re young, you can’t play enough.

I think it’s healthy for a person to be nervous. It means you care – that you work hard and want to give a great performance. You just have to channel that nervous energy into the show.

The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows.

I used to feel unsafe right in the moment of an accomplishment – I felt the ground fall from under my feet because this could be the end. And even now, while everyone is celebrating, I’m on to the next thing. I don’t want to get lost in this big cushion of success.

Having a mind that is open to everything and attached to nothing seems to me to be one of the most basic principles that you can adopt to contribute to individual and world peace.

Never marry someone in hope that they’ll change later.

I never fall in love.

When you love and accept yourself, when you know who really cares about you, and when you learn from your mistakes, then you stop caring about what people who don’t know you think.

You must be the change you wish to see in the world.

I am absolutely my own biggest critic.

If you haven’t forgiven yourself something, how can you forgive others.

Without sounding biased, 70 days of football is not enough. Even if Messi plays 70 days he cannot be in the national team. You need to play around the year to be in contention for the national team.

When I was playing, there were always lots of teams in contention for the league – Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Leeds. Every week was a big game and a big battle.

Make the most of your regrets; never smother your sorrow, but tend and cherish it till it comes to have a separate and integral interest. To regret deeply is to live afresh.

Humble people ask for help.

I’m always hungry to score.

Guarding your heart and protecting your dignity are a little bit more important than clarifying the emotions of someone who’s only texting you back three words. I’ve learned that from trying to figure out people who don’t deserve to be figured out.

Daring to set boundaries is about having the courage to love ourselves, even when we risk disappointing others.

To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.

My life is my message.

I always pass on good advice. It is the only thing to do with it. It is never of any use to oneself.

When I was married, I definitely went through a lying period.

In general, pride is at the bottom of all great mistakes.

It’s so easy to settle for less than God’s best for us because we don’t always feel like taking responsibility for our behavior or putting forth some effort to do what we need to do so we can accomplish great things for God and help people. But the cost of settling for less is actually harder than being completely obedient to God’s will.

What I can say is that all my characters are searching for their souls, because they are my mirrors. I’m someone who is constantly trying to understand my place in the world, and literature is the best way that I found in order to see myself.

I put a lot of pressure on myself. I think something’s not good enough, and I won’t stop until I feel like I’ve made it. I’m never satisfied.

As long as I’m learning something, I figure I’m OK – it’s a decent day.

I mean… in life… what relationship is easy?

I don’t want to be something that just comes and goes.

Playing basketball all my life, I’ve collected a lot of different basketball shoes. It’s pretty much all I wear.

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

God has entrusted me with myself.

Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.

If I’d just tried for them dinky singles I could’ve batted around .600.

It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.

In the course of my life, I have often had to eat my words, and I must confess that I have always found it a wholesome diet.

Reading isn’t good for a ballplayer. Not good for his eyes. If my eyes went bad even a little bit I couldn’t hit home runs. So I gave up reading.

I always tell young girls, surround yourself with goodness. I learned early on how to get the haters out of my life.