I was born with a great gift, and sometimes with that comes a destructive streak.

One of the things I definitely think of as a driver of me is fear. And it’s fear of failure, fear of being overtaken.

The strongest influences in my life and my work are always whomever I love. Whomever I love and am with most of the time, or whomever I remember most vividly. I think that’s true of everyone, don’t you?

I always try to do as much as I can do. I’m never a person that does not enough, because I’d regret not doing enough and think I probably could have done more. I probably go too far and have to reel myself back in, which works in some things, and other things it doesn’t work.

Back in the day, what motivated me was overcoming myself. Now I believe in being a leader. I’ve done it all – I’m good. Now, it’s about setting an example for others to follow. I can’t just talk it – I have to live it.

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

Hide our ignorance as we will, an evening of wine soon reveals it.

You can’t put your feet on the ground until you’ve touched the sky.

People always say when they meet me that I’m not what they expect. I assume they think I’m this super dark and depressing guy, but I like to channel all of those emotions into my work.

Playing in MLS was a great experience. It has boosted my confidence and I feel I have matured as a player.

The most happy man is he who knows how to bring into relation the end and beginning of his life.

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

My dad seemed comfortable with his decision to be a ‚have-not,‘ but I knew that I wasn’t.

I fear that many a man’s good resolutions only need the ordinary fire of daily life to make them melt away. So, too, with fine professions and the boastings of perfection which abound in this age of shams.

I’m concerned that my technical skills have advanced to the point where I can get closer to what I’m aiming for, which is not such a good thing.

I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it.

I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.

All of our problems start in our minds.

I remain just one thing, and one thing only, and that is a clown. It places me on a far higher plane than any politician.

I am whatever you say I am; if I wasn’t, then why would you say I am.

I think my vice would be outdoing myself.

I’ve always believed in God. I also think that’s the sort of thing that either comes as part of the equipment, the capacity to believe, or at some point in your life, when you’re in a position where you actually need help from a power greater than yourself, you simply make an agreement.

To know yourself as the Being underneath the thinker, the stillness underneath the mental noise, the love and joy underneath the pain, is freedom, salvation, enlightenment.

Billy Graham is one of my great lifetime heroes. I think he epitomizes the essence of what a Christian leader should be. I have participated in some of his crusades a couple of times in Atlanta. I’ve seen the profound impact he’s had on me personally, and on other people who were not Christians and accepted Christ as Savior.

I was always taught not to answer no questions. I’m not really good at answering them because I get agitated so fast.

Key is never be afraid of being yourself. Never!

There is no coming to consciousness without pain.

Telling us to obey instinct is like telling us to obey ‚people.‘ People say different things: so do instincts. Our instincts are at war… Each instinct, if you listen to it, will claim to be gratified at the expense of the rest.

If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.

This happiness consisted of nothing else but the harmony of the few things around me with my own existence, a feeling of contentment and well-being that needed no changes and no intensification.

He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened.

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

One of the signs of passing youth is the birth of a sense of fellowship with other human beings as we take our place among them.

I want to do a certain thing in the world, and I am going to do it with unwavering concentration. I am concerning myself with only one essential thing: to set man free. I desire to free him from all cages, from all fears, and not to found religions, new sects, nor to establish new theories and new philosophies.

What nourishes me also destroys me.

I’m one of them guys that tries to make everything the best of the best, so sometimes I’m out of control with it.

A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.

There are women who can make you feel more with their bodies and their souls, but these are the exact women who will turn the knife into you right in front of the crowd. Of course, I expect this, but the knife still cuts.

O wretched man, wretched not just because of what you are, but also because you do not know how wretched you are!

Maybe other people will try to limit me but I don’t limit myself.

Above everything else I’ve done, I’ve always said I’ve had more guts than I’ve got talent.

I’ve seen firsthand that being president doesn’t change who you are. It reveals who you are.

Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.

It’s very hard to find your own words – and you don’t actually exist until you have your own words.

Adventure is not outside man; it is within.

Our will is always for our own good, but we do not always see what that is.

Do the thing you fear to do and keep on doing it… that is the quickest and surest way ever yet discovered to conquer fear.

I am tough, but deep inside my toughness, I like to let people know I’m an old-fashioned mama’s boy.

Man is the only creature that refuses to be what he is.

Wisdom ceases to be wisdom when it becomes too proud to weep, too grave to laugh, and too selfish to seek other than itself.

Don’t compare yourself with other people; compare yourself with who you were yesterday.

Your emotions are very unstable and should never be the foundation for direction in your life.

People are more aware now of cities and of different ways of life. I suppose the writing I do is a bit in the past, and I’m not sure it’s the kind of writing I would do if I were starting now.

I have total recall. I remember being born. I remember being in the womb, I remember being inside. Coming out was great.

I am not a self-help writer. I am a self-problem writer. When people read my books, I provoke some things. I cannot justify my work. I do my work; it is up to them to classify it, to judge.

Everything is an open book. I don’t speak on other people’s hardship, but if it happened in my life or something that has been an experience on my particular journey, I’m going to talk about it. That’s what my fan base appreciates the most. I’m universal. You can relate to the things I say or that I go through.

The only way to avoid being miserable is not to have enough leisure to wonder whether you are happy or not.

I’m very aware and very conscious of the path I chose in life, and very aware of the path I didn’t choose.

My work is the only ground I’ve ever had to stand on. To put it bluntly, I seem to have a whole superstructure with no foundation, but I’m working on the foundation.

I think, for years, people have been pushed down by religion, and I don’t say that disrespectfully, but they’ve been shown a God that you can’t measure up to.

Although I don’t have a prescription for what others should do, I know I have been very fortunate and feel a responsibility to give back to society in a very significant way.