I decided that it was not wisdom that enabled poets to write their poetry, but a kind of instinct or inspiration, such as you find in seers and prophets who deliver all their sublime messages without knowing in the least what they mean.

Where love is, there God is also.

And I saw the sax line-up that he had behind him and I thought, I’m going to learn the saxophone. When I grow up, I’m going to play in his band. So I sort of persuaded my dad to get me a kind of a plastic saxophone on the hire purchase plan.

The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.

No sanction can stand against ignited minds.

The best advice comes from people who don’t give advice.

The greatest thing a human soul ever does in this world… to see clearly is poetry, prophecy and religion all in one.

A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.

I don’t know what can be so dangerous about giving people hope. Causing people to have better relationships. I’m not leading them to some false God or something like that.

Poetry comes from the highest happiness or the deepest sorrow.

We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.

Ideas are the beginning points of all fortunes.

The two powers which in my opinion constitute a wise man are those of bearing and forbearing.

In all my work, in the movies I write, the lyrics, the poetry, the prose, the essays, I am saying that we may encounter many defeats – maybe it’s imperative that we encounter the defeats – but we are much stronger than we appear to be and maybe much better than we allow ourselves to be. Human beings are more alike than unalike.

Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.

I’m honored that everybody’s inspired off my inspiration.

My lectures, based on Islamic teachings, were on various subjects. Some of the titles were, ‚The Intoxication of Life,‘ ‚The Purpose of Life,‘ ‚The Real Cause of Man’s Distress,‘ ‚The Journey to the Goal in Life,‘ and, one of my favorites, ‚The Heart of Man.‘ They contained important insights that spoke to something deep inside me.

I learned a long time ago that reality was much weirder than anyone’s imagination.

He that will believe only what he can fully comprehend must have a long head or a very short creed.

Our care should not be to have lived long as to have lived enough.

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.

The progress of rivers to the ocean is not so rapid as that of man to error.

I never dared to be radical when young for fear it would make me conservative when old.

If we are to go forward, we must go back and rediscover those precious values – that all reality hinges on moral foundations and that all reality has spiritual control.

Every man over forty is a scoundrel.

No man ever prayed heartily without learning something.

A good writer possesses not only his own spirit but also the spirit of his friends.

Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men.

Regarding life, the wisest men of all ages have judged alike: it is worthless.

Without freedom of thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom – and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech.

A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered. Carve your name on hearts, not on marble.

Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.

Keep a good attitude and do the right thing even when it’s hard. When you do that you are passing the test. And God promises you your marked moments are on their way.

None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.

Without pain, there would be no suffering, without suffering we would never learn from our mistakes. To make it right, pain and suffering is the key to all windows, without it, there is no way of life.

It is in life as it is in ways, the shortest way is commonly the foulest, and surely the fairer way is not much about.

Life is a song to me.

Let no one be slow to seek wisdom when he is young nor weary in the search of it when he has grown old. For no age is too early or too late for the health of the soul.

Let us not listen to those who think we ought to be angry with our enemies, and who believe this to be great and manly. Nothing is so praiseworthy, nothing so clearly shows a great and noble soul, as clemency and readiness to forgive.

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.‘

The arrogance of age must submit to be taught by youth.

Let me smile with the wise, and feed with the rich.

Good fame is like fire; when you have kindled you may easily preserve it; but if you extinguish it, you will not easily kindle it again.

Like many modern poets, I tend to conceal rhymes by placing them in the middle of lines, and to avoid immediate alliteration and assonance in favor of echoes placed later in the poems.

Do not be very upright in your dealings for you would see by going to the forest that straight trees are cut down while crooked ones are left standing.

Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.

I no have education. I have inspiration. If I was educated, I would be a damn fool.

He who is to be a good ruler must have first been ruled.

This world is but a canvas to our imagination.

Music has the power to inspire the world.

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.

I’ve had quite a lot of luck with dreams. I’ve often awoken in the night with a phrase or even a whole song in my head.

I believe in Coach Louis Wong. He is so much more than just a football coach.

An egg today is better than a hen to-morrow.

Blessed is the man, who having nothing to say, abstains from giving wordy evidence of the fact.

When people are around us, they should leave better off than they were previously. Rather than feeling discouraged or defeated, people should feel challenged and inspired after spending any time with you and me.

Hope is not a resting place but a starting point – a cactus, not a cushion.

I don’t go off and sit down and try to write material, because then it’s contrived and forced. I just live my life, and I see things in a word or a situation or a concept, and it will create a joke for me.

Experience is the teacher of all things.

Why need I volumes, if one word suffice?

O wise man! Give your wealth only to the worthy and never to others. The water of the sea received by the clouds is always sweet.