Good intentions never change anything. They only become a deeper and deeper rut.

I always had faith in my creative capacity.

Only the insecure strive for security.

Applause waits on success.

I like to make people feel happy and superior in their reaction towards my appearance.

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

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.

If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.

Everyone has at least one story, and each of us is funny if we admit it. You have to admit you’re the funniest person you’ve ever heard of.

I’ve learned over the years that when I go to that place of passion within me, there’s no force in the universe that can interfere with my completing a project.

Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist.

What consumerism really is, at its worst is getting people to buy things that don’t actually improve their lives.

Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition. Whether it be true or not, I can say, for one, that I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow-men, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem. How far I shall succeed in gratifying this ambition is yet to be developed.

All wrong-doing arises because of mind. If mind is transformed can wrong-doing remain?

Whatever has happened in my quest for innovation has been part of my quest for immaculate reality.

Few women, I fear, have had such reason as I have to think the long sad years of youth were worth living for the sake of middle age.

Desperation is sometimes as powerful an inspirer as genius.

Failure is nature’s plan to prepare you for great responsibilities.

The thing that motivates me is a very common form of motivation. And that is, with other folks counting on me, it’s so easy to be motivated.

I always have to be writing.

Never take anything for granted.

Man’s only true happiness is to live in hope of something to be won by him. Reverence something to be worshipped by him, and love something to be cherished by him, forever.

We must act out passion before we can feel it.

Of all acts of man repentance is the most divine. The greatest of all faults is to be conscious of none.

If every day you practice walking and sitting meditation and generate the energy of mindfulness and concentration and peace, you are a cell in the body of the new Buddha. This is not a dream but is possible today and tomorrow.

The man who makes everything that leads to happiness depends upon himself, and not upon other men, has adopted the very best plan for living happily. This is the man of moderation, the man of manly character and of wisdom.

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

It is easier to prevent bad habits than to break them.

Hide not your talents. They for use were made. What’s a sundial in the shade?

Whatever is making you so angry, it’s time for you to give it to God and get over it.

Every man who knows how to read has it in his power to magnify himself, to multiply the ways in which he exists, to make his life full, significant and interesting.

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.

Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you.

In the fight between you and the world, back the world.

Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth.

If everything isn’t black and white, I say, ‚Why the hell not?‘

The truth is, anyone can start projects. The world is full of just-started projects that looked great at the time but were never completed.

The only thing is, people have to develop courage. It is most important of all the virtues. Because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtues consistently.

The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.

If you want special results, you have to feel special things and do special things together. You can speak about spirit, or you can live it.

If you’re not ready for everything, you’re not ready for anything.

I’ve got my Grammys on top of my piano and I look at them when I play.

I think it is the height of ignorance to believe that the sexual act is an independent function necessary like sleeping or eating. Seeing, therefore, that I did not desire more children, I began to strive after self-control. There was endless difficulty in the task.

If you dream the proper dreams, and share the myths with people, they will want to grow up to be like you.

I kept writing not because I felt I was so good, but because I felt they were so bad, including Shakespeare, all those. The stilted formalism, like chewing cardboard.

If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.

Secretly we’re all a little more absurd than we make ourselves out to be.

You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.

You’ve got to learn to survive a defeat. That’s when you develop character.

Life is a journey. When we stop, things don’t go right.

The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own.

I’m super self-critical, which I think is good, because then I get exactly what I want. I’m critical of other people, too – I try not to be, though.

The man who acquires the ability to take full possession of his own mind may take possession of anything else to which he is justly entitled.

There is always the danger that we may just do the work for the sake of the work. This is where the respect and the love and the devotion come in – that we do it to God, to Christ, and that’s why we try to do it as beautifully as possible.

Not being beautiful was the true blessing. Not being beautiful forced me to develop my inner resources. The pretty girl has a handicap to overcome.

Maturity is the ability to reap without apology and not complain when things don’t go well.

Better to fight for something than live for nothing.

I’m one of them guys that tries to make everything the best of the best, so sometimes I’m out of control with it.

I care not what others think of what I do, but I care very much about what I think of what I do! That is character!

Many people resented my impatience and honesty, but I never cared about acceptance as much as I cared about respect.

Let each become all that he was created capable of being.