I just have always felt that people don’t change, circumstances change.

Almost all of our sorrows spring out of our relations with other people.

Simply put, you believe that things or people make you unhappy, but this is not accurate. You make yourself unhappy.

To me, constructive criticism is when people take ownership of their ideas. That’s why I don’t listen to anything that’s anonymous. But it’s hard; when there’s something hurtful out there, I still want to read it over and over and memorize it and explain my point of view to the person.

One must steer, not talk.

I didn’t try to copy my dad or fit into the pressure or the mold that everybody tried to make me fit into.

I sometimes have a tendency to walk on the dark side.

The world we see that seems so insane is the result of a belief system that is not working. To perceive the world differently, we must be willing to change our belief system, let the past slip away, expand our sense of now, and dissolve the fear in our minds.

Conviction never so excellent, is worthless until it coverts itself into conduct.

We are born weak, we need strength; helpless, we need aid; foolish, we need reason. All that we lack at birth, all that we need when we come to man’s estate, is the gift of education.

I think the tiniest little thing can change the course of your day, which can change the course of your year, which can change who you are.

Before all else, be armed.

I approach love differently now that I know it’s hard for it to work out.

Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body.

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.

Bring your desires down to your present means. Increase them only when your increased means permit.

In a real dark night of the soul, it is always three o’clock in the morning, day after day.

I spent most of the early years of my walk with God focused on what was wrong with me. Most of us probably do that, hoping to change ourselves.

I think I lived those years very impersonally. It was almost as though I had erected someone outside myself who was the president’s wife. I was lost somewhere deep down inside myself. That is the way I felt and worked until I left the White House.

I’m not arrogant enough to look back on my career and criticize my choices. It’s really not my place.

I am sure there’s going to be times when I do things wrong that no one’s going to like and everyone’s going to think I’m terrible and rubbish but I know I’m going to go through those times, and it’s just about understanding that that’s going to happen.

To try to become happy is to try to build a machine with no other specifications than it shall run noiselessly.

If there are people you haven’t forgiven, you’re not going to really awaken. You have to let go.

Invest three percent of your income in yourself (self-development) in order to guarantee your future.

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.

Time and money spent in helping men to do more for themselves is far better than mere giving.

I don’t see the point of doing an interview unless you’re going to share the things you learn in life and the mistakes you make. So to admit that I’m extremely human and have done some dark things I don’t think makes me unusual or unusually dark. I think it actually is the right thing to do, and I’d like to think it’s the nice thing to do.

Accept the terrible responsibility of life with eyes wide open.

When we tackle obstacles, we find hidden reserves of courage and resilience we did not know we had. And it is only when we are faced with failure do we realise that these resources were always there within us. We only need to find them and move on with our lives.

At 155, I will be the same animal, an even better animal.

Almost every man wastes part of his life attempting to display qualities which he does not possess.

A great part of courage is the courage of having done the thing before.

Our treasure lies in the beehive of our knowledge. We are perpetually on the way thither, being by nature winged insects and honey gatherers of the mind.

Never complain. Never explain.

If you know me, and you call me Stefani, you don’t really know me at all.

When you get to a place where you understand that love and belonging, your worthiness, is a birthright and not something you have to earn, anything is possible.

I let people fill in the blanks on their own. If they want to think about their ex, that’s fine. If they want to think about maybe who one of my exes is, then that’s fine. And it might not be right, because I’m the only one who knows what these songs are really about. It’s the one shred of privacy I have in the matter.

Vulnerability is basically uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure.

When I was four, my mother insisted I get out of the car and find my own way home. Although I got lost, I did find my way home. It taught me the value of independence at an early age.

If you want small changes in your life, work on your attitude. But if you want big and primary changes, work on your paradigm.

There is a tendency for things to right themselves.

Men acquire a particular quality by constantly acting in a particular way.

I’ve lived a very colorful life, and I’ve said some things, But not once have I taken them back, and I’ve never apologized for them – and I won’t.

The possibilities are numerous once we decide to act and not react.

When one begins to live by habit and by quotation, one has begun to stop living.

It’s hard to practice compassion when we’re struggling with our authenticity or when our own worthiness is off-balance.

I imagine I will be less involved in film and be focused more on family and foreign affairs.

Failure is nature’s plan to prepare you for great responsibilities.

He who gives away shall have real gain. He who subdues himself shall be free; he shall cease to be a slave of passions. The righteous man casts off evil, and by rooting out lust, bitterness, and illusion do we reach Nirvana.

Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind.

Personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures.

I don’t think I’m such an amazing person who needs to be written about.

Me not finishing school – in my head, I still have this insecurity when I’m talking to someone educated.

One of the many lessons that one learns in prison is, that things are what they are and will be what they will be.

Help others and give something back. I guarantee you will discover that while public service improves the lives and the world around you, its greatest reward is the enrichment and new meaning it will bring your own life.

Whatever good things we build end up building us.

Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye.

The relationship to one’s fellow man is the relationship of prayer, the relationship to oneself is the relationship of striving; it is from prayer that one draws the strength for one’s striving.

We learn martial arts as helping weakness. You never fight for people to get hurt. You’re always helping people.

Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.

Doubt in my tradition is something that is very helpful. Because of doubt, you can thirst more and you will get a higher kind of proof.