I am who I am. That’s why my friends and peers respect and appreciate me. I don’t change or cater my actions to fit my surroundings. I’m myself 24/7. People appreciate that.

The day you stop doing the small things is the day you think you’re above everybody else.

Anger cannot be dishonest.

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.

I want to be the greatest actor that ever lived, frankly. I’d love that. But I don’t need to be. I just want to be here. That’s it.

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.

I used to go away for weeks in a state of confusion.

I came up from a difficult background.

I do believe in God. But you won’t find me visiting temples every now and then. I believe in self-realization. Peace of mind matters a lot to me. What’s the point in doing something just for the sake of it? I’d rather do something I like doing as long as I’m being true to myself.

I don’t have to be what you want me to be.

Whatever that means, however you got on that mountain, why not try to climb it? And do it in your own way.

I’ve made my share of mistakes along the way, but if I have changed even one life for the better, I haven’t lived in vain.

I don’t like to give advice. I like to give people information because everyone’s life is different, and everyone’s journey is different.

Freedom is not given to us by anyone; we have to cultivate it ourselves. It is a daily practice… No one can prevent you from being aware of each step you take or each breath in and breath out.

Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.

In every real man a child is hidden that wants to play.

Open your eyes, look within. Are you satisfied with the life you’re living?

As long as my music is real, it’s no limit to how many ears I can grab.

Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.

Sometimes you need faith and victory spoken over your life. Words have created power. When you receive them into your spirit, they can ignite seeds of increase on the inside.

He who angers you conquers you.

I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back.

I still consider myself a little, fat kid from Hawaii.

The more I grow in popularity, the lonelier it gets. Because you don’t really know me. You just know this part of me. You fell in love with that. But it’s way more intricate than what meets the surface.

I’ve always been – you know, my personality is motivating and encouraging. And so I’m just being who God made me to be.

If selfishness is the key to being miserable, then selflessness must be the key to being happy!

To know yourself as the Being underneath the thinker, the stillness underneath the mental noise, the love and joy underneath the pain, is freedom, salvation, enlightenment.

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.

Courage that grows from constitution often forsakes a man when he has occasion for it; courage which arises from a sense of duty acts; in a uniform manner.

Everybody wants to be me. What can I say?

I’m trying to show everybody that I’m a girl, and I’m five foot four, and you can do anything you want, no matter your gender. It’s your world, too!

I heard that when Christina Aguilera went back to her prom, people, like, booed her. I can’t imagine going through that. If you know that’s going to happen, why put yourself in that situation? I’d rather play for 20,000 screaming people, you know?

In my case Pilgrim’s Progress consisted in my having to climb down a thousand ladders until I could reach out my hand to the little clod of earth that I am.

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

I still have mixed feelings about what growing up is – this thing that happens to everyone, so I’ve heard.

Let’s embrace being not normal!

I will not be concerned at other men’s not knowing me; I will be concerned at my own want of ability.

The devil is a peace stealer, and he works hard to set us up to get upset. But we can learn how to change our approach so we don’t live upset all of the time. And Jesus gives us the best example to follow.

I don’t want to tell President Obama how to make a speech. He’s a much better speech maker than I am. But I think always to tell the truth in a sometimes blatant way, even though it might be temporarily unpopular, is the best approach.

I’m not a sheep.

The most happy man is he who knows how to bring into relation the end and beginning of his life.

Experience is not what happens to you; it’s what you do with what happens to you.

We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aid, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn.

I was at a New Year’s Eve party, and someone asked me how was my year, and I said, ‚I honestly think 2011 was the best year of my entire life,‘ and I actually meant it.

Usually, people have a tendency to be caught in the worries concerning the future or in the regret concerning the past. There is some kind of energy that is pushing them to run, and they are not able to establish themselves in the present moment.

We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them.

Let go of yesterday.

When I was into my 30s, I became increasingly depressed by rejection letters. I had had the feeling that by the time I was 30, I would be established. But I was not at all. By the time of ‚Lives of Girls and Women,‘ I was into my 40s and I had become more thin-skinned.

Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.

I don’t make people bend over backwards, and I don’t like that in people. I am definitely no diva.

The people who truly know me know what I’m like. There have been people who try to say things that aren’t fair, and I check them. And then they don’t like me because I checked them.

I think that it’s okay to be mad at someone who hurt you. This isn’t about, like, the pageantry of trying to seem like nothing affects you.

With fame, you know, you can read about yourself, somebody else’s ideas about you, but what’s important is how you feel about yourself – for survival and living day to day with what comes up.

Eat to please thyself, but dress to please others.

I myself have been on my own and utterly independent since I graduated. I haven’t belonged to any company or any system. It isn’t easy to live like this in Japan.

There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect.

I’m one of the world’s most self-conscious people. I really have to struggle.

It’s hard for anybody who’s been with me not to feel starved for affection when I’m making love to my ideas. Maybe it’s not meant for me to settle down and be married.

It is better to create than to learn! Creating is the essence of life.

I think everybody deserves an equal amount of appreciation whether how old they are, but I mean, I’m cool with the praise. I’m good.

I’m different than most people. When I cross the finish line of a big race, I see that people are ecstatic, but I’m thinking about what I’m going to do tomorrow. It’s as if my journey is everlasting, and there is no finish line.