For a man to conquer himself is the first and noblest of all victories.

We deem those happy who from the experience of life have learnt to bear its ills without being overcome by them.

I know I will never be happy, but I know I can be gay!

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

It’s amazing: I am a New Yorker. It’s strange; I never thought I would be.

There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one’s self.

I’m reflective only in the sense that I learn to move forward. I reflect with a purpose.

The more nobly a man wills and acts, the more avid he becomes for great and sublime aims to pursue. He will no longer be content with family, country, and the remunerative aspect of his work. He will want wider organisations to create, new paths to blaze, causes to uphold, truths to discover, an ideal to cherish and defend.

It was my delusion and naivety that brought me here.

I’ve been reckless, but I’m not a rebel without a cause.

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.

I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps.

I was becoming post-ideological.

I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don’t always agree with them.

At one point I learned transcendental meditation. This was 30-something years ago. It took me back to the way that I naturally was as a child growing up way in the country, rarely seeing people. I was in that state of oneness with creation and it was as if I didn’t exist except as a part of everything.

When I was a child, I was very poor and wanted everything. So when I got money, I began buying things.

Whenever I write a novel, I have a strong sense that I am doing something I was unable to do before. With each new work, I move up a step and discover something new inside me.

The great epochs of our life are the occasions when we gain the courage to rebaptize our evil qualities as our best qualities.

Watch out for the joy-stealers: gossip, criticism, complaining, faultfinding, and a negative, judgmental attitude.

Human beings must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it.

You can’t have it all, all at once. Who – man or woman – has it all, all at once? Over my lifespan, I think I have had it all. But in different periods of time, things were rough. And if you have a caring life partner, you help the other person when that person needs it.

The things that transfixed you as a child, that you found most exciting was not a passing fancy, but a message about what you’re supposed to do.

People suffer because they are caught in their views. As soon as we release those views, we are free and we don’t suffer anymore.

Anybody can be good in the country. There are no temptations there.

If a man does not make new acquaintances as he advances through life, he will soon find himself left alone. A man, sir, should keep his friendship in a constant repair.

The true artist is not proud: he unfortunately sees that art has no limits; he feels darkly how far he is from the goal, and though he may be admired by others, he is sad not to have reached that point to which his better genius only appears as a distant, guiding sun.

When I was writing ‚Kitchen Confidential,‘ I was in my 40s, I had never paid rent on time, I was 10 years behind on my taxes, I had never owned my own furniture or a car.

You fail only if you stop writing.

Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment.

The reward of suffering is experience.

Overall there’s going to be things I’m not great at.

If you have the insight of non-self, if you have the insight of impermanence, you should make that insight into a concentration that you keep alive throughout the day. Then what you say, what you think, and what you do will then be in the light of that wisdom and you will avoid making mistakes and creating suffering.

Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching.

The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.

I’m not looking to freak people out – eating rodents or bugs. I don’t do that anymore.

The power of intuitive understanding will protect you from harm until the end of your days.

The higher we are placed, the more humbly we should walk.

Because my dad abused me, I was determined to never let a man tell me what to do. God clearly showed me that I needed to be a submissive wife if I wanted to be effective in ministry. The truth is, if we don’t learn to submit to authority, we won’t ever learn to submit to God.

Take a course in good water and air; and in the eternal youth of Nature you may renew your own. Go quietly, alone; no harm will befall you.

The thing about Jiu Jitsu is it is also not for everybody. It can be very humiliating and humbling. If you have a hard time dealing with the fact that someone smaller than you may be able to tap you out, it is going to be difficult.

I am a walking piece of art every day, with my dreams and my ambitions forward at all times in an effort to inspire my fans to lead their life in that way.

Nothing new here, except my marrying, which to me is a matter of profound wonder.

The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool.

Know that any and all thoughts that you have regarding your own skills, interests, and inclinations are valid. To reinforce the validity of your thoughts, keep them private. Tell yourself that they’re between you and God.

I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end… I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside of me.

I have had some cosmetic surgery, especially after I lost weight and stuff, and I’ve had my breasts lifted – but not injected. That would scare me to death, anyway.

I just want to be just as everyone else. I want to educate myself and be just like a normal teenager.

The only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.

My main goal is to be a self-made man and have control over what’s mine.

Every single one of us has a few months here or there that feel like dark months.

One mustn’t close one’s eyes to difficulty and to shortcomings; the more one recognizes them, the less they upset one.

It is only imperfection that complains of what is imperfect. The more perfect we are the more gentle and quiet we become towards the defects of others.

Man’s greatness lies in his power of thought.

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

The competitor to be feared is one who never bothers about you at all, but goes on making his own business better all the time.

Control your own destiny! Control your own destiny!

What is common sense isn’t common practice.

If you believe that feeling bad or worrying long enough will change a past or future event, then you are residing on another planet with a different reality system.

The tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he lives.

Let us begin by committing ourselves to the truth to see it like it is, and tell it like it is, to find the truth, to speak the truth, and to live the truth.

I mean… in life… what relationship is easy?