I was bullied as a boy – lots of kids are, but hopefully most of us get on with our lives and grow up.

I could speak three languages when I was six, and when I went to school, I only liked to read and sketch. At five, I could write and everything.

Conflict cannot survive without your participation.

Do not give in too much to feelings. A overly sensitive heart is an unhappy possession on this shaky earth.

I would like to fly in space. Absolutely. That would be cool. I used to just do personally risky things, but now I’ve got kids and responsibilities, so I can’t be my own test pilot. That wouldn’t be a good idea. But I definitely want to fly as soon as it’s a sensible thing to do.

I am very fond of truth, but not at all of martyrdom.

Ever since I was a child I have had this instinctive urge for expansion and growth. To me, the function and duty of a quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one’s potential.

I was raised in a family where vulnerability was barely tolerated: no training wheels on our bicycles, no goggles in the pool, just get it done. And so I grew up not only with discomfort about my own vulnerability, I didn’t care for it in other people either.

A wise man is cured of ambition by ambition itself; his aim is so exalted that riches, office, fortune and favour cannot satisfy him.

Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.

In all my work, in the movies I write, the lyrics, the poetry, the prose, the essays, I am saying that we may encounter many defeats – maybe it’s imperative that we encounter the defeats – but we are much stronger than we appear to be and maybe much better than we allow ourselves to be. Human beings are more alike than unalike.

You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.

God enters by a private door into every individual.

Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others.

Follow that will and that way which experience confirms to be your own.

We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future.

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

That which does not kill us makes us stronger.

The greatest gift that you can give to others is the gift of unconditional love and acceptance.

It is really very important while you are young to live in an environment in which there is no fear. Most of us, as we grow older, become frightened; we are afraid of living, afraid of losing a job, afraid of tradition, afraid of what the neighbours, or what the wife or husband would say, afraid of death.

When I first went to places where people were suffering from war and persecution, I felt ashamed of my feelings of sadness. I could see more possibilities in my life.

I think writing really helps you heal yourself. I think if you write long enough, you will be a healthy person. That is, if you write what you need to write, as opposed to what will make money, or what will make fame.

I use a stream-of-consciousness approach; if you don’t censor yourself, you end up with what you’re most concerned about, but you haven’t filtered it through your conscious mind. Then you craft it.

Don’t be afraid to see what you see.

You cannot create experience. You must undergo it.

You cannot see the changes that you’re dreaming about, because they’re internal.

No man lives without jostling and being jostled; in all ways he has to elbow himself through the world, giving and receiving offence.

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

I believe enlightenment or revelation comes in daily life. I look for joy, the peace of action. You need action. I’d have stopped writing years ago if it were for the money.

We gain the strength of the temptation we resist.

Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt.

No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.

I’ve never been a jealous person, and I’ve never felt built up by someone else’s failure – that’s a cheap thrill.

A person will sometimes devote all his life to the development of one part of his body – the wishbone.

We believe that every single child has boundless promise, no matter who they are, where they come from, or how much money their parents have. We’ve got to remember that. We believe that each of these young people is a vital part of the great American story.

One travels more usefully when alone, because he reflects more.

The man who has no problems is out of the game.

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

In order to heal others, we first need to heal ourselves. And to heal ourselves, we need to know how to deal with ourselves.

The devil is a peace stealer, and he works hard to set us up to get upset. But we can learn how to change our approach so we don’t live upset all of the time. And Jesus gives us the best example to follow.

Always take hold of things by the smooth handle.

Life’s too short to deal with other people’s insecurities.

Failure at some point in your life is inevitable, but giving up is unforgivable.

I remember, when I was a young guy in the SEAL teams, I was very afraid of making mistakes and looking stupid or doing dumb things and getting a bad reputation.

The secret is not to give up hope. It’s very hard not to because if you’re really doing something worthwhile I think you will be pushed to the brink of hopelessness before you come through the other side.

I don’t have a problem with ageing – in fact, I embrace that aspect of it. And am able to and obviously am going to be able to quite easily… it doesn’t faze me at all.

Remember, you can always stoop and pick up nothing.

Life’s too short to hang out with people who aren’t resourceful.

He who conquers others is strong; He who conquers himself is mighty.

Millions of people live their entire lives without finding themselves. But it is something I must do.

To reform a world, to reform a nation, no wise man will undertake; and all but foolish men know, that the only solid, though a far slower reformation, is what each begins and perfects on himself.

Even when we have physical hardships, we can be very happy.

I think there are a number of things that you can do to encourage your kids‘ dreams, but I do believe in speaking by experience of having a lot of help along the way, stumbling in the past. We’ve all stumbled, and we certainly all deserve to get up and walk again.

Until you have cultivated the habit of saying some kind word of those whom you do not admire, you will be neither successful nor happy.

From my childhood I had been intended for the clergy. This prospect hung like a dark cloud on my mind.

Before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.

I never want to change so much that people can’t recognize me.

Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.

Our Creator expects His children everywhere to educate themselves.

I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.

First, I’m trying to prove to myself that I’m a person. Then maybe I’ll convince myself that I’m an actress.