He that composes himself is wiser than he that composes a book.

It is also true that one can write nothing readable unless one constantly struggles to efface one’s own personality. Good prose is like a windowpane.

Our will is always for our own good, but we do not always see what that is.

Mere humans who root through their refrigerators at three o’clock in the morning can only produce writing that matches what they do. And that includes me.

No one but a fool is always right.

Whenever I’m around some who is modest, I think, ‚Run like hell and all of fire.‘ You don’t want modesty, you want humility.

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.

The man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enemies but also to hate his friends.

A wise ruler ought never to keep faith when by doing so it would be against his interests.

Many a man’s strength is in opposition, and when he faileth, he grows out of use.

Precepts or maxims are of great weight; and a few useful ones on hand do more to produce a happy life than the volumes we can’t find.

Where much is expected from an individual, he may rise to the level of events and make the dream come true.

I hate what I look like on TV, and I want to look better, and nothing makes the mothers more jealous.

No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money.

To realize that you do not understand is a virtue; Not to realize that you do not understand is a defect.

It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive. Forgive everybody.

It is most unwise for people in love to marry.

Poetry and lyrics are very similar. Making words bounce off a page.

Only kings, presidents, editors, and people with tapeworms have the right to use the editorial ‚we.‘

Reversing your treatment of the man you have wronged is better than asking his forgiveness.

It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.

Honestly, I always believed in myself. For real, for real.

For novelists or musicians, if they really want to create something, they need to go downstairs and find a passage to get into the second basement. What I want to do is go down there, but still stay sane.

If you have the ability to pick yourself up by the bootstraps and start over, you come out stronger because you learn from whatever mistakes you made.

I have an expression I use as I’ve gone around the world through my career: ‚You never tell another man or woman what’s in their interest. They know their interest better than you know their interest.‘

Power is competence.

Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.

The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding.

God has given you one face, and you make yourself another.

There is more wisdom in your body than in your deepest philosophy.

If I see something sagging, bagging or dragging I’ll get it nipped, tucked or sucked.

It’s a philosophy of life. A practice. If you do this, something will change, what will change is that you will change, your life will change, and if you can change you, you can perhaps change the world.

Knowledge becomes evil if the aim be not virtuous.

You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best that you have to give.

Not being afraid to be wrong – I had to learn how to do that.

It is far better to be alone, than to be in bad company.

Without stirring abroad, One can know the whole world; Without looking out of the window One can see the way of heaven. The further one goes The less one knows.

Next to knowing when to seize an opportunity, the most important thing in life is to know when to forego an advantage.

To those whose talents are above mediocrity, the highest subjects may be announced. To those who are below mediocrity, the highest subjects may not be announced.

If you start by promising what you don’t even have yet, you’ll lose your desire to work towards getting it.

We are born weak, we need strength; helpless, we need aid; foolish, we need reason. All that we lack at birth, all that we need when we come to man’s estate, is the gift of education.

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

Control your own destiny! Control your own destiny!

Experience is the teacher of all things.

A man is but the product of his thoughts, what he thinks he becomes.

The essence of philosophy is that a man should so live that his happiness shall depend as little as possible on external things.

You cannot let where you are today cause you to get stuck. I’m going to be my best right now. That’s what faith is all about.

The wise ones fashioned speech with their thought, sifting it as grain is sifted through a sieve.

Nothing on ‚Relapse‘ and very little on ‚Recovery‘ was produced by me.

My moms always told me, ‚How long you gonna play the victim?‘ I can say I’m mad and I hate everything, but nothing really changes until I change myself.

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.

When I am working on a book or a story, I write every morning as soon after first light as possible. There is no one to disturb you, and it is cool or cold, and you come to your work and warm as you write.

All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.

If I could write directly on a typewriter or a computer, I would do it. But keyboards have always intimidated me. I’ve never been able to think clearly with my fingers in that position. A pen is a much more primitive instrument. You feel that the words are coming out of your body and then you dig the words into the page.

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.

My advice is this. For Christ’s sake, don’t write a book that is suitable for a kid of 12 years old, because the kids who read who are 12 years old are reading books for adults. I read all of the James Bond books when I was about 11, which was approximately the right time to read James Bond books.

A human being would certainly not grow to be seventy or eighty years old if this longevity had no meaning for the species. The afternoon of human life must also have a significance of its own and cannot be merely a pitiful appendage to life’s morning.

All of my writing is God-given.

Don’t spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door.

To know oneself, one should assert oneself.

I know that I’m not the easiest person to live with. The challenge I put on myself is so great that the person I live with feels himself challenged. I bring a lot to bear, and I don’t know how not to.