A wise man is cured of ambition by ambition itself; his aim is so exalted that riches, office, fortune and favour cannot satisfy him.

I write for myself things that I’ve gone through.

The wish to acquire more is admittedly a very natural and common thing; and when men succeed in this they are always praised rather than condemned. But when they lack the ability to do so and yet want to acquire more at all costs, they deserve condemnation for their mistakes.

In all affairs it’s a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted.

I can do whatever I want.

I always feel like it’s two key ingredients when it comes to following your dreams, making something happen that the average person deems difficult. If you truly believe it, that’s step one. Step two, is, you know, the hard work that goes along with it.

One of the things I’ve told men over and over and over and over is if you’re being rejected by all the women that you approach, it’s not the women!

All the knowledge I possess everyone else can acquire, but my heart is all my own.

There are certain things that bother me and certain things that don’t. Personal attacks on me? I think I’m just so used to it.

It is never too late to be what you might have been.

Above anything else, I hate to lose.

People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.

All of our problems start in our minds.

People like to blame others. I think a person should just look at their own situation, look around them, find out what they wish to do, and seek and go and do that. And that’s it.

Happiness is not being pained in body or troubled in mind.

If you’re going to spend two years of your life on something, it has to matter to you; you have to be passionate about it.

I enjoy competition. I enjoy challenges. If a challenge is in front of me and it appeals to me, I will go ahead and conquer it.

Your daily life is your temple and your religion. When you enter into it take with you your all.

A man cannot be said to succeed in this life who does not satisfy one friend.

Discontent, blaming, complaining, self-pity cannot serve as a foundation for a good future, no matter how much effort you make.

I’m grateful to intelligent people. That doesn’t mean educated. That doesn’t mean intellectual. I mean really intelligent. What black old people used to call ‚mother wit‘ means intelligence that you had in your mother’s womb. That’s what you rely on. You know what’s right to do.

Maxim for life: You get treated in life the way you teach people to treat you.

When the solution is simple, God is answering.

When I won the first Grammy, there was no other feeling like that feeling. It just made me feel like I came so far, like that was just a dream a few years before that, and then it was happening right then.

If you’re not producing as much as you consume, or perhaps a little more, then clearly we cannot use the big organization of our society for the purpose of keeping you alive, because your life does not benefit us, and it can’t be of very much use to yourself.

The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.

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

I once wanted to prove myself by being a great actress. Now I want to prove that I’m a person. Then maybe I’ll be a great actress.

For me, the opposite of scarcity is not abundance. It’s enough. I’m enough. My kids are enough.

The spiritual is the parent of the practical.

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.

Growing up in the place I did I never was aware of any other option but to question everything.

I had nothing growing up, but I always wanted to be ‚sexy,‘ even before I knew what the word was.

So never lose an opportunity of urging a practical beginning, however small, for it is wonderful how often in such matters the mustard-seed germinates and roots itself.

A game is like a mirror that allows you to look at yourself.

I became a people-watcher when I lost all my friends when I was 12.

For a true writer, each book should be a new beginning where he tries again for something that is beyond attainment. He should always try for something that has never been done or that others have tried and failed. Then sometimes, with great luck, he will succeed.

The only way you gain mental toughness is to do things you’re not happy doing. If you continue doing things that you’re satisfied and make you happy, you’re not getting stronger. You’re staying where you’re at. Either you’re getting better, or you’re getting worse. You’re not staying the same.

Daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward; they may be beaten, but they may start a winning game.

He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature.

I’m always cast in these strange men… that’s not me, really.

God enters by a private door into every individual.

People do not decide to become extraordinary. They decide to accomplish extraordinary things.

If a man writes a book, let him set down only what he knows. I have guesses enough of my own.

Common sense is not so common.

I want a president with a record of public service, someone whose life’s work shows our children that we don’t chase fame and fortune for ourselves: we fight to give everyone a chance to succeed.

My problem is I am Christian, so I think other people must have success, too; it’s not about me.

I criticize by creation – not by finding fault.

Wisdom is nothing but a preparation of the soul, a capacity, a secret art of thinking, feeling and breathing thoughts of unity at every moment of life.

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.

All our knowledge begins with the senses, proceeds then to the understanding, and ends with reason. There is nothing higher than reason.

It is not good to be too free. It is not good to have everything one wants.

Either you’re the one erasing or you’re the one being erased.

Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.

You must capture and keep the heart of the original and supremely able man before his brain can do its best.

There is no victory at bargain basement prices.

My one big regret is that I didn’t play on for ten more years.

The greenhorn is the ultimate victor in everything; it is he that gets the most out of life.

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own, and you know what you know. And you are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

I don’t dislike any of my exes. If I took time to form a relationship, it’s gonna hurt when we move on, but are you puttin‘ White-Out over all that beautiful time together? That was real time in your life. It’s connected to where you are today.

We can do anything we want to if we stick to it long enough.