I hate the giving of the hand unless the whole man accompanies it.

If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us shall we not revenge?

Always prefer the plain direct word to the long, vague one. Don’t implement promises, but keep them.

An honest man’s the noblest work of God.

Your manuscript is both good and original; but the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good.

Why do I not seek some real good; one which I could feel, not one which I could display?

The merit of originality is not novelty; it is sincerity.

Ah, women. They make the highs higher and the lows more frequent.

Power is not alluring to pure minds.

A person who is truly authentic doesn’t need to play a role in life, we think, but can simply be him – or herself.

Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.

When I came into this industry, I was never afraid to be myself.

To see the right and not to do it is cowardice.

The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.

A gentleman would be ashamed should his deeds not match his words.

There is nothing in the world more shameful than establishing one’s self on lies and fables.

When we are born we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools.

The truth is: Belonging starts with self-acceptance. Your level of belonging, in fact, can never be greater than your level of self-acceptance, because believing that you’re enough is what gives you the courage to be authentic, vulnerable and imperfect.

I just have a thing in my brain that when I’m about to do something that’s genuine or authentic, I think of it in song form. I’ll be like, ‚Yo, this is a human emotion that no one talks about.‘

If the writing is honest it cannot be separated from the man who wrote it.

They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.

Life is not living in the suburbs with a white picket fence. That’s not life. Somehow our American culture has made it out that that’s what life needs to be – and that if it’s not that, it’s all screwed up. It’s not.

Yeah, I’m an open book.

Every man is a quotation from all his ancestors.

What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.

The difficult thing is that vulnerability is the first thing I look for in you and the last thing I’m willing to show you. In you, it’s courage and daring. In me, it’s weakness.

I’d rather learn from one bird how to sing than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance.

There’s one way to find out if a man is honest – ask him. If he says, ‚Yes,‘ you know he is a crook.

The truth doesn’t hurt unless it ought to.

I don’t feel much pressure to fit in. I never have. I’ve always just wanted to do my thing. I have really good friends and good family, and if I don’t fit in somewhere else, I fit in at home.

A friend is nothing but a known enemy.

No man was ever wise by chance.

One of the lessons that I grew up with was to always stay true to yourself and never let what somebody else says distract you from your goals. And so when I hear about negative and false attacks, I really don’t invest any energy in them, because I know who I am.

For I can raise no money by vile means.

It is very hard to not be able to engage with people in a real and honest way because they either want something from me, or they see me as something that I simply am not.

There was never a good war, or a bad peace.

If you must speak ill of another, do not speak it, write it in the sand near the water’s edge.

I’m a human being. I’ve got opinions, I’m not always right, I’m not always on time, I don’t always say things in the proper way, but my intentions are always extremely pure.

If I’m inspired to make a certain kind of song, I’m going to make that kind of song, no matter if it’s what they know me as or think I am.

One of my big goals as a human being is to continue to write what’s really happening to me, even if it’s a tough pill to swallow for people around me… I do fear that if I ever were to have someone in my life who mattered, I would second-guess every one of my lyrics.

Very often, say what you will, a knave is only a fool.

If we’re really honest with ourselves, most of us will admit that we want to impress people, and this is what’s causing us to do what we do.

My goal was never to make Facebook cool. I am not a cool person.

You know, I just do whatever feels right to me! And so that’s what you’re gonna get!

He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches.

I don’t believe in doing things to manufacture my body to appeal to what I think people might like.

The worst crime is faking it.

If it’s a penny for your thoughts and you put in your two cents worth, then someone, somewhere is making a penny.

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

I’m always attracted to people who interest me. They’ve got to be people who are really true to themselves somehow, and who are always trying to do something that makes their life more interesting, or better, or something for somebody else. They’re interested in people.

To me, business isn’t about wearing suits or pleasing stockholders. It’s about being true to yourself, your ideas and focusing on the essentials.

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

Some of the kids in school used to call my father a fake or a phony. That kind of thing brought on a few fights.

Be not the first by whom the new are tried, Nor yet the last to lay the old aside.

All of my music is honest.

I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn’t it.

I think country music is popular – has been popular and will always be popular because I think a lot of real people singing about a lot of real stuff about real people. And it’s simple enough for people to understand it. And we kind of roll with the punches.

Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.

Where is the man who has the strength to be true, and to show himself as he is?

The postman wants an autograph. The cab driver wants a picture. The waitress wants a handshake. Everyone wants a piece of you.

The superior man acts before he speaks, and afterwards speaks according to his action.