I don’t mind telling a dark side.

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be.

Conscience is the inner voice that warns us that someone might be looking.

My confidence is easy to shake. I am very well aware of all of my flaws. I am aware of all the insecurities that I have.

Without culture, and the relative freedom it implies, society, even when perfect, is but a jungle. This is why any authentic creation is a gift to the future.

To be conscious that you are ignorant of the facts is a great step to knowledge.

Between stimulus and response, there is a space where we choose our response.

Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress.

If we are not ashamed to think it, we should not be ashamed to say it.

It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place.

It is a most delightful reflection that if I come to the throne of God in prayer, I may feel a thousand defects, but yet there is hope. I usually feel more dissatisfied with my prayers than with anything else I do.

People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.

I feel like I have a job to do, like I constantly have to reinvent myself. The more I up the ante for myself, the better it is in the long run. I try to interact with my fans as much as possible. It’s good that the person I’m being onstage isn’t really an act. It’s really me.

Vanity is great motivation, to be fair.

You always have to remember that if you say something negative, it’s going to come back to haunt you.

One thing I hope I’ll never be is drunk with my own power. And anybody who says I am will never work in this town again.

When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common you appear, and the less in control. Even if you are saying something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended, and sphinxlike.

You can always cope with the present moment, but you cannot cope with something that is only a mind projection – you cannot cope with the future.

Weak character will neutralize all of the other possible good qualities a person might possess.

It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.

There will be no whitewash in the White House.

Sincere words are not fine; fine words are not sincere.

There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow men. True nobility lies in being superior to your former self.

I kinda live where I find myself.

Is fear preventing you from taking action? Acknowledge the fear, watch it, take your attention into it, be fully present with it. Doing so cuts the link between the fear and your thinking. Don’t let the fear rise up into your mind. Use the power of the Now. Fear cannot prevail against it.

There is no coming to consciousness without pain.

Age is whatever you think it is. You are as old as you think you are.

I know where I’m going and I know the truth, and I don’t have to be what you want me to be. I’m free to be what I want.

He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.

People become attached to their burdens sometimes more than the burdens are attached to them.

The man of life upright has a guiltless heart, free from all dishonest deeds or thought of vanity.

Catering to bad feelings feeds and empowers them.

We used to wonder where war lived, what it was that made it so vile. And now we realize that we know where it lives… inside ourselves.

If an individual wants to be a leader and isn’t controversial, that means he never stood for anything.

I did used to have nightmares about the idea that when I die, there is a spark of consciousness which basically creates the world. ‚Is the world going to disappear if this spark of consciousness disappears? And how do I know it won’t? How do I know there’s anything there except what I’m conscious of?‘

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

I wonder how many decisions we make every day. I believe it’s probably hundreds. We decide whether or not to get out of bed, what we’ll eat, what we’ll do, what we’ll think about, what we’ll say… and on and on.

We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our education system.

Within us there is someone who knows everything, wills everything, does everything better than we ourselves.

I’m not confused. I’m just well mixed.

Integrity has no need of rules.

No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar.

I am a sinner. This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner.

I never make conscious decisions.

The essence of being human is that one does not seek perfection.

I cannot always control what goes on outside. But I can always control what goes on inside.

I’ve noticed a terrible thing, which is I will agree to anything if it’s far enough in the future.

Observe all men, thyself most.

It’s easier to aim to please and say what others want to hear than to form an opinion and fight for it, even if it means taking a risk or losing your job.

There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.

If a woman possesses manly virtues one should run away from her; and if she does not possess them she runs away from herself.

I am the only person in the world I should like to know thoroughly.

The ego is only an illusion, but a very influential one. Letting the ego-illusion become your identity can prevent you from knowing your true self. Ego, the false idea of believing that you are what you have or what you do, is a backwards way of assessing and living life.

You know, it’s not the world that was my oppressor, because what the world does to you, if the world does it to you long enough and effectively enough, you begin to do to yourself.

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

That’s the biggest gift I can give anybody: ‚Wake up, be aware of who you are, what you’re doing and what you can do to prevent yourself from becoming ill.‘

I want everybody to understand that I am an American Negro first before I am a member of any political party.

The first test of a truly great man is his humility. By humility I don’t mean doubt of his powers or hesitation in speaking his opinion, but merely an understanding of the relationship of what he can say and what he can do.

One is still what one is going to cease to be and already what one is going to become. One lives one’s death, one dies one’s life.

You may be always victorious if you will never enter into any contest where the issue does not wholly depend upon yourself.

You must be afraid, my son. That is how one becomes an honest citizen.