I felt I had to solve everyone’s problems.

Well, there are some things that I just can’t get out of my head, and they start to annoy me after a while. Sometimes they’re of my own creation, as well – and they’re just as annoying. It’s not only other people’s ear worms that bug me, it’s my own, as well.

You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created.

My reputation grows with every failure.

In Hollywood the woods are full of people that learned to write but evidently can’t read. If they could read their stuff, they’d stop writing.

You pity the fool because you don’t want to beat up a fool! You know, pity is between sorry and mercy. See, if you pity him, you know, you won’t have to beat him up. So that’s why I say fools, you gotta give another chance because they don’t know no better. That’s why I pity them!

Meditation is to be aware of every thought and of every feeling, never to say it is right or wrong, but just to watch it and move with it. In that watching, you begin to understand the whole movement of thought and feeling. And out of this awareness comes silence.

But at any rate, the point is that God is what nobody admits to being, and everybody really is.

No matter what, people grow. If you chose not to grow, you’re staying in a small box with a small mindset. People who win go outside of that box. It’s very simple when you look at it.

I had the classic 40 meltdown. I did. It’s embarrassing. It was pretty funny. But then I recovered. To me, it was like a second adolescence. Hormonally, my body was changing, my mind was changing, and so my relationship to myself and the world around me came to this assault of finiteness.

If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.

Don’t feel sorry for me.

An identity would seem to be arrived at by the way in which the person faces and uses his experience.

I’ve learned that usually, the less I know about other people, the better off I am.

Oh, I’ve always been very… Emotional. ‚Hypersensitive‘ is what they call it, I think.

I get nervous when I don’t get nervous. If I’m nervous I know I’m going to have a good show.

When we are well, we all have good advice for those who are ill.

Now I am older, I understand we have to accept who we are.

We work to become, not to acquire.

As long as you blame someone or something else – something outside you that’s bigger than you are – as the source of your problems, the problems won’t get solved.

Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light.

I don’t think any country is perfect. It’s our responsibility to do the best we can do to change the things we don’t like. I think that’s part of social responsibility, and everybody is going to do that in their own way.

The Nation of Islam’s main focus was teaching black pride and self-awareness. Why should we keep trying to force ourselves into white restaurants and schools when white people didn’t want us? Why not clean up our own neighborhoods and schools instead of trying to move out of them and into white people’s neighborhoods?

Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have. Make the Now the primary focus of your life.

Since we cannot know all that there is to be known about anything, we ought to know a little about everything.

I haven’t been faithful to my own advice in the past. I will in the future.

Until he extends his circle of compassion to include all living things, man will not himself find peace.

How do you know what it’s like to be stupid if you’ve never been smart?

Know, first, who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly.

Occasionally I’ve seen children become heavy-handed and insensitive when dealing with their aging parents, and it only caused resentment and hard feelings.

The only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.

Do not weep; do not wax indignant. Understand.

Good character is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character.

We gain the strength of the temptation we resist.

I’ve never been a boyfriend kind of girl.

The dreams and passions stored within hearts are powerful keys which can unlock a wealth of potential.

I know that I always wanted things. I was always proud of my people, proud of my home, but I always wanted more. I think most people do.

When people get taken over by the ego to such an extent, there is nothing else in their mind except the ego. They can no longer feel or sense their humanity – what they share with other human beings, or even with other life forms on the planet. They are so identified with concepts in their minds that other human beings become concepts as well.

If you are not being bullied all I would say – cause I like to talk about the other side of it as well – is you know, be someone that nurtures, and if there’s someone in your class that maybe doesn’t have a lot of friends, be the person that sits with them in the cafeteria sometimes; be the bigger person.

I want it said of me by those who knew me best, that I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow.

You can never get enough of what you don’t want.

I’m a big believer in doing things that make you uncomfortable. So, we live in a world where we want to be as comfortable as we can. And we wonder why we have no growth. We wonder why – when the smallest thing in our life gets difficult – we wonder why we cower and we run away.

You can live your life angry, bitter, mad at somebody or even guilty, not letting go of your own mistakes, but you won’t receive the good things God has in store.

Truly it is an evil to be full of faults; but it is a still greater evil to be full of them and to be unwilling to recognize them, since that is to add the further fault of a voluntary illusion.

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.

People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they’re not on your road doesn’t mean they’ve gotten lost.

Never deprive someone of hope; it might be all they have.

Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.

You don’t sign up for a divorce when you get married. It’s very painful. But it’s taught me a great deal about myself.

Once I realized that right thinking is vital to victorious living, I got more serious about thinking about what I was thinking about, and choosing my thoughts carefully.

Remind yourself that winning an argument or proving your point really gets you nowhere in the long run. Win through your actions, not your words.

Let each know that for each the body, the mind and the soul have been freed to fulfill themselves.

Vulnerability is the birthplace of connection and the path to the feeling of worthiness. If it doesn’t feel vulnerable, the sharing is probably not constructive.

When making your choice in life, do not neglect to live.

Time heals griefs and quarrels, for we change and are no longer the same persons. Neither the offender nor the offended are any more themselves.

One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes… and the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility.

A lot of people tell me a lot of things about my conduct, my game, my future… but I try to stay away from their words of wisdom. I don’t let it distract me. On the field, you will be facing the ball alone. If you fail, you will the only one to blame. So, you should be the one deciding for yourself.

If small things have the power to disturb you, then who you think you are is exactly that: small.

For me, being raised in a free America made all the difference.

I seldom end up where I wanted to go, but almost always end up where I need to be.

Make yourself an honest man, and then you may be sure there is one less rascal in the world.