If you realize all the time what’s kind of wonderful – that is, if we expand our experience into wilder and wilder regions of experience – every once in a while, we have these integrations when everything’s pulled together into a unification, in which it turns out to be simpler than it looked before.

My one regret in life is that I am not someone else.

It didn’t even occur to me that I’m the last person in the world who should play salsa or Brazilian music.

What nourishes me also destroys me.

The great quest of life has always been to discover truth.

It is not sufficient to see and to know the beauty of a work. We must feel and be affected by it.

Friendship with ones self is all important, because without it one cannot be friends with anyone else in the world.

The resistance that you fight physically in the gym and the resistance that you fight in life can only build a strong character.

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.

Elegance is refusal.

He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened.

The thing to do, it seems to me, is to prepare yourself so you can be a rainbow in somebody else’s cloud. Somebody who may not look like you. May not call God the same name you call God – if they call God at all. I may not dance your dances or speak your language. But be a blessing to somebody. That’s what I think.

I still consider it a summer job, though. So, I try to maintain that summer job as long as I can. But it’s exciting to be able to have the opportunity to do things I always dreamed of as a kid.

Genius might be the ability to say a profound thing in a simple way.

It’s not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.

Listening to and understanding our inner sufferings will resolve most of the problems we encounter.

You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight.

Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence.

I always try to be myself. Ever since I was an introverted kid, I’d get on stage and be able to break out of my shell.

America’s experience, like many others, teaches us that fostering entrepreneurship is not just about crafting the right economic policy or developing the best educated curricula. It’s about creating an entire climate in which innovation and ideas flourish.

I have spent many years of my life in opposition, and I rather like the role.

In those days he was wiser than he is now; he used to frequently take my advice.

I was a bit challenged when I was younger to stay on the right path.

A man who is not afraid is not aggressive, a man who has no sense of fear of any kind is really a free, a peaceful man.

You learn from a conglomeration of the incredible past – whatever experience gotten in any way whatsoever.

Individuals need to be willing to face truth about their attitudes, behaviors, even what we want out of life.

I’ve learned never to say never.

Egos are never nice. I have been a victim of it a lot of times in my career. Whenever I have used it, I have failed.

I am a big believer in education, because when I grew up in Austria – when I grew up in Austria I had a great education. I had great teachers.

Yeah, I like to keep myself interested – I’ll kind of throw myself into some area that I don’t completely know or understand, that I’m not adept at, so I’m forced to swim in order to stay afloat. There’s a good feeling that comes from that.

How hard, how bitter it is to become a man!

No man can reveal to you nothing but that which already lies half-asleep in the dawning of your knowledge.

I’m confident in who I am. I’ve come to a place in my life where I’ve accepted things that are me, as opposed to feeling pressure to explain myself to people around me. That’s just the way I’ve always tried to be. It didn’t change when I became a star.

It creeps me out sometimes to think of the person I was. I was a terrible person. I was mean to people.

The roots of the problems we face in the world, in our national life, and in our family and personal lives are spiritual.

God enters by a private door into every individual.

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

I’m tender on the inside.

When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you.

We grow older, but we do not change. We become more sophisticated, but at bottom we continue to resemble our young selves, eager to listen to the next story and the next, and the next.

Now that I understand that I’m an addict, I definitely have compassion for my mother. I get it.

All my adult life people have been helping me.

In so many ways, segregation shaped me, and education liberated me.

When I look back on my life as a whole, it is impossible for me not to feel blessed.

I can express myself.

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.

The best of us must sometimes eat our words.

Usually, people have a tendency to be caught in the worries concerning the future or in the regret concerning the past. There is some kind of energy that is pushing them to run, and they are not able to establish themselves in the present moment.

My mother did not like children.

The devil is a peace stealer, and he works hard to set us up to get upset. But we can learn how to change our approach so we don’t live upset all of the time. And Jesus gives us the best example to follow.

I always knew from that moment, from the time I found myself at home in that little segregated library in the South, all the way up until I walked up the steps of the New York City library, I always felt, in any town, if I can get to a library, I’ll be OK. It really helped me as a child, and that never left me.

Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.

I’m not trying to follow a set of rules and stuff. I’m just living my life.

My life is real.

Helped are those who create anything at all, for they shall relive the thrill of their own conception and realize a partnership in the creation of the Universe that keeps them responsible and cheerful.

No one has ever learned fully to know themselves.

It is amazing how a new child can refocus one’s direction seconds after its birth.

Nobody can bring you peace but yourself.

Accept everything about yourself – I mean everything, You are you and that is the beginning and the end – no apologies, no regrets.

I never took a day off in my twenties. Not one. And I’m still fanatical, but now I’m a little less fanatical.

I’ve learned that we all change constantly. It’s rare to find that person who is growing with you in the same way at the same time, who encourages you to grow.