Enemies are so stimulating.

If a man does his best, what else is there?

I want to be a man who is truthful and who won’t let pride get in the way of my ripping myself open to my partner and saying, ‚Here I am. This is me.‘ I feel there’s something powerful when a man reaches a point in his life when he can be completely vulnerable.

If I’m going to get you to do stuff, I need to lead you. I can’t just order you to do it.

He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.

One of the most important decisions you’ll ever make is choosing the kind of universe you exist in: is it helpful and supportive or hostile and unsupportive? Your answer to this question will make all the difference in terms of how you live your life and what kind of Divine assistance you attract.

Our whole life is set up in the path of least resistance. We don’t want to suffer. We don’t want to feel discomfort. So the whole time, we’re living our lives in a very comfortable area. There’s no growth in that.

Becoming an inspiration for kids is great. I want to inspire them to do whatever they want to.

I’m not gonna be bad at anything, and I want to actually be the best at anything I’m doing. So if I’m playing basketball, if I’m taking the SATs, like, there’s a competitive spirit behind it. With production, it’s the same thing.

Instead of worrying about what people say of you, why not spend time trying to accomplish something they will admire.

Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around.

I know that I always wanted things. I was always proud of my people, proud of my home, but I always wanted more. I think most people do.

It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.

I know my flaws before other people point them out to me.

I am the only person in the world I should like to know thoroughly.

An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory.

The more successful I become, the more I need a man.

Every day we have plenty of opportunities to get angry, stressed or offended. But what you’re doing when you indulge these negative emotions is giving something outside yourself power over your happiness. You can choose to not let little things upset you.

When I was young, I could not imagine being old. My mother said, and the doctor confirmed, that I had an unusual amount of energy; and it followed me into young adulthood.

Failure after long perseverance is much grander than never to have a striving good enough to be called a failure.

Nothing is ever done in this world until men are prepared to kill one another if it is not done.

Failed plans should not be interpreted as a failed vision. Visions don’t change, they are only refined. Plans rarely stay the same, and are scrapped or adjusted as needed. Be stubborn about the vision, but flexible with your plan.

I’m never gonna step away from stand-up. I can’t. That’s what got me where I am, and that’s also my muse. That’s how I stay level-headed. That’s what keeps me going.

I believe in believing. My coach John Kavanagh is a big atheist, and he is always trying to persuade people to his way of thinking, and I think, ‚What a waste of energy.‘ If people want to believe in this god or that god, that’s fine by me; believe away. But I think we can be our own gods. I believe in myself.

If my edge is dull, my sword is dull, and I don’t want to fight another guy whose sword is dull. If you’ve got two steel swords going back and forth hitting each other, what’s gonna happen? Both of them are going to get sharper. Everybody that’s in the industry has lost their edge.

Ordinary readers, forgive my paradoxes: one must make them when one reflects; and whatever you may say, I prefer being a man with paradoxes than a man with prejudices.

Small aim is a crime.

You simply have to put one foot in front of the other and keep going. Put blinders on and plow right ahead.

It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.

Love. Fall in love and stay in love. Write only what you love, and love what you write. The key word is love. You have to get up in the morning and write something you love, something to live for.

I’m just an individual who doesn’t feel that I need to have somebody qualify my work in any particular way. I’m working for me.

I am only an average man but, by George, I work harder at it than the average man.

The questions which one asks oneself begin, at least, to illuminate the world, and become one’s key to the experience of others.

Whether you come from a council estate or a country estate, your success will be determined by your own confidence and fortitude.

We cannot teach people anything; we can only help them discover it within themselves.

The human race is a race of cowards; and I am not only marching in that procession but carrying a banner.

It is in self-limitation that a master first shows himself.

Mine is better than ours.

I get up every morning and say, ‚Father, give me strength today, not strength so I can lift 500 pounds, but give me strength, Lord, so when I speak, my words might motivate, might inspire somebody, Lord, when they see me, let them see you. When they hear me, Lord, let them hear you. In your holy name I pray.‘

It has always been my belief that a man should do his best, regardless of how much he receives for his services, or the number of people he may be serving or the class of people served.

Make bold choices and make mistakes. It’s all those things that add up to the person you become.

I don’t want to be too critical of what other people do, but when people go back to do the same thing that they did, I’m completely confused. I’m like, ‚Didn’t you make that movie already?‘ I’ve been very fortunate, and I’m well taken care of, so the least I can do is try to go forward.

I do not live on false promises. I cannot afford to live on bad advice.

Only if you have been in the deepest valley, can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain.

I can express myself.

I have a dogmatic certainty: God is in every person’s life. God is in everyone’s life. Even if the life of a person has been a disaster, even if it is destroyed by vices, drugs or anything else – God is in this person’s life. You can – you must – try to seek God in every human life.

I gather from motivation around me – from a lot of personalities who have done well in their respective fields.

It seems the older you get, the more life comes into focus.

‚Trilogy‘ was more of a claustrophobic body of work. Before it was released, I hadn’t left my city for 21 years, and I had never been on a plane, not once. I spent my entire life on one setting; that’s probably why pieces of the album feel like one long track, because that’s what my life felt like. It felt like one long song.

I like the cold weather. It means you get work done.

To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person.

A quarrel is quickly settled when deserted by one party; there is no battle unless there be two.

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

Execute every act of thy life as though it were thy last.

War should be the politics of last resort. And when we go to war, we should have a purpose that our people understand and support.

I just want to be myself.

It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.

It’s true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure, why take the chance?

Life is a matter of really tough choices.

Ambition is the last refuge of the failure.

I’ve lived a very colorful life, and I’ve said some things, But not once have I taken them back, and I’ve never apologized for them – and I won’t.