A ‚No‘ uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a ‚Yes‘ merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.

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

All of my music is honest.

Most of us have far more courage than we ever dreamed we possessed.

I definitely connected to the fact that life gets out of control and you end up doing things and wishing you were doing other things instead.

Once you’ve changed who you are or who you’ve portrayed in your music, the fans, they’ll catch it… Once I feel like the world knows me for anything else but my music, then I feel like I failed.

A hundred struggle and drown in the breakers. One discovers the new world. But rather, ten times rather, die in the surf, heralding the way to that new world, than stand idly on the shore.

No one can be happy who has been thrust outside the pale of truth. And there are two ways that one can be removed from this realm: by lying, or by being lied to.

In past generations, people would try to play younger than they really are. My trick is, I don’t try to play younger than I really am.

My writing is jagged and harsh, I want it to remain that way; I don’t want it smoothed out.

The issues that cross a president’s desk are never easy. The easy questions don’t even get to the president.

A man is never more truthful than when he acknowledges himself a liar.

A lot of people ask me when I do a stunt, ‚Jackie, are you scared?‘ Of course I’m scared. I’m not Superman.

Time is compressed like the fist I close on my knee… I hold inside it the clues and solutions and the power for what I must do now.

There are definitely people who disagree with certain creative decisions you make. Pleasing everyone is pretty hard.

I had to make a choice at one point in my life, of missing films or missing my children. It was a very easy decision to make because I missed my children so very much.

No amount of ability is of the slightest avail without honor.

I think country music is popular – has been popular and will always be popular because I think a lot of real people singing about a lot of real stuff about real people. And it’s simple enough for people to understand it. And we kind of roll with the punches.

I don’t see the point of doing an interview unless you’re going to share the things you learn in life and the mistakes you make. So to admit that I’m extremely human and have done some dark things I don’t think makes me unusual or unusually dark. I think it actually is the right thing to do, and I’d like to think it’s the nice thing to do.

Everybody always laughs because I feel so much more comfortable with, like, a giant paper bag on my whole body and paint on my face. Sometimes I try really hard to take it all off. But inevitably what’s underneath is still not a straight edge. And I don’t think it ever will be.

Next to doing the right thing, the most important thing is to let people know you are doing the right thing.

We’re all insecure, aren’t we? I’m not walking around like I’m macho man or anything.

I just hate meetings. Though it’s true that once you’ve made a lot of money, people around you might be full of ideas about ways to make lots more money and might be disappointed that you don’t want to seize every opportunity to do so.

The torment of precautions often exceeds the dangers to be avoided. It is sometimes better to abandon one’s self to destiny.

Exaggeration is a blood relation to falsehood and nearly as blamable.

Every man should know, if you’re comfortable and you like it, you should do it. Everyone always worries about what the girls think, what the guys think. If you like it, do it.

The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.

Before I lost my voice, it was slurred, so only those close to me could understand, but with the computer voice, I found I could give popular lectures. I enjoy communicating science. It is important that the public understands basic science, if they are not to leave vital decisions to others.

My dad seemed comfortable with his decision to be a ‚have-not,‘ but I knew that I wasn’t.

You know, I just do whatever feels right to me! And so that’s what you’re gonna get!

When should a college athlete turn pro? Not until he has earned all he can in college as an amateur.

I’m not trying to be fashionable. Never was!

Just try new things. Don’t be afraid. Step out of your comfort zones and soar, all right?

Boldness be my friend.

I want to be an honest man and a good writer.

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

I don’t really plan. I’m almost intuitive about things.

Every man, every woman who has to take up the service of government, must ask themselves two questions: ‚Do I love my people in order to serve them better? Am I humble and do I listen to everybody, to diverse opinions in order to choose the best path?‘ If you don’t ask those questions, your governance will not be good.

I don’t really get into a big intellectual analysis of why I am going to do a certain script or not.

Being too good is apt to be uninteresting.

If you judge, investigate.

It has always been my private conviction that any man who puts his intelligence up against a fish and loses had it coming.

Real nobility is based on scorn, courage, and profound indifference.

Nothing shows a man’s character more than what he laughs at.

The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.

No man should be in politics unless he would honestly rather not be there.

Nothing is more expensive than a missed opportunity.

It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder.

I’ve seen firsthand that being president doesn’t change who you are. It reveals who you are.

I’d rather give my life than be afraid to give it.

As our enemies have found we can reason like men, so now let us show them we can fight like men also.

Man is the only creature that refuses to be what he is.

A faithful woman can become a devoted daughter of God – more concerned with being righteous than with being selfish, more anxious to exercise compassion than to exercise dominion, more committed to integrity than to notoriety. And she knows of her own infinite worth.

No one person controls Microsoft. The board and the shareholders decide whether they want to have me as CEO.

A wise ruler ought never to keep faith when by doing so it would be against his interests.

I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act.

I’m not going to change the way I look or the way I feel to conform to anything. I’ve always been a freak. So I’ve been a freak all my life and I have to live with that, you know. I’m one of those people.

I’ve always felt that if I examine myself too much, I’ll find out what I know and don’t know, and I’ll burst the bubble. I’ve gotten so lucky relying on my animal instincts, I’d rather keep a little bit of the animal alive.

It is the duty of the President to propose and it is the privilege of the Congress to dispose.

The man of life upright has a guiltless heart, free from all dishonest deeds or thought of vanity.

Ability without honor is useless.