If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.

Don’t get older just to get wiser. If you get older, you will be wiser, I believe that – if you dare. But get older because it’s fun!

A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.

You are only afraid if you are not in harmony with yourself. People are afraid because they have never owned up to themselves.

I still consider it a summer job, though. So, I try to maintain that summer job as long as I can. But it’s exciting to be able to have the opportunity to do things I always dreamed of as a kid.

We all self-conscious. I’m just the first to admit it.

Friendship with ones self is all important, because without it one cannot be friends with anyone else in the world.

That which does not kill us makes us stronger.

I believe in believing. My coach John Kavanagh is a big atheist, and he is always trying to persuade people to his way of thinking, and I think, ‚What a waste of energy.‘ If people want to believe in this god or that god, that’s fine by me; believe away. But I think we can be our own gods. I believe in myself.

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own, and you know what you know. And you are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

God has entrusted me with myself.

People who don’t know the true character of God – who don’t believe He is merciful, gracious and slow to anger – can never have a close, personal, intimate relationship with Him.

‚Born this Way‘ is about being yourself, and loving who you are and being proud.

You have to be able to accept failure to get better.

I can do whatever I want.

I can very well do without God both in my life and in my painting, but I cannot, suffering as I am, do without something which is greater than I am, which is my life, the power to create.

With fame, you know, you can read about yourself, somebody else’s ideas about you, but what’s important is how you feel about yourself – for survival and living day to day with what comes up.

When something an affliction happens to you, you either let it defeat you, or you defeat it.

You gotta keep trying to find your niche and trying to fit into whatever slot that’s left for you or to make one of your own.

I was becoming post-ideological.

We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world.

I am absolutely my own biggest critic.

I was a kind of hyper-intense person in my twenties and very impatient.

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.

Talk low, talk slow and don’t say too much.

The power of intuitive understanding will protect you from harm until the end of your days.

By the sole fact of his entering into ‚Thought,‘ man represents something entirely singular and absolutely unique in the field of our experience. On a single planet, there could not be more than one centre of emergence for reflexion.

If we are to go forward, we must go back and rediscover those precious values – that all reality hinges on moral foundations and that all reality has spiritual control.

An employer of mine back in the ’80s was kind enough to take me on after a rough patch, and it made a big difference in my life that I knew I was the sort of person who showed up on time. It’s a basic tell of character.

A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find that after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us.

All of us are mentors. You’re mentors right here and now. And one of the things I’ve always done throughout my life, I have always found that person, that group of people that I was going to reach my hand out and help bring them along with me.

Yeah, I like to keep myself interested – I’ll kind of throw myself into some area that I don’t completely know or understand, that I’m not adept at, so I’m forced to swim in order to stay afloat. There’s a good feeling that comes from that.

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.

The worst thing I can be is the same as everybody else. I hate that.

When I was old enough to change my name, I changed it to Mr. T so that the first word out of someone’s mouth was ‚Mister,‘ a sign of respect.

Not what I have, but what I do is my kingdom.

I have trouble with letting go. That’s my problem.

The most challenging project I’ve ever done, I think, is every single thing I’ve ever tried to do. It’s never easy.

There is a tendency for things to right themselves.

An artist or a creative person of any kind goes about their work because it’s their path, it’s what excites them, it’s what aligns their soul with who they truly are, who they showed up to be.

I still consider myself a little, fat kid from Hawaii.

The spirit is there in every boy; it has to be discovered and brought to light.

It is better to do one’s own duty, however defective it may be, than to follow the duty of another, however well one may perform it. He who does his duty as his own nature reveals it, never sins.

Never let your ego get so close to your position that when your position goes, your ego goes with it.

I write because writing is something that I have to do. And it doesn’t matter whether people like it or not. When I write, I feel the pressure and anxiety that come with taking an empty piece of paper and trying to fill it with something from your own consciousness.

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

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.

I am not a particularly thick-skinned person.

Now that I understand that I’m an addict, I definitely have compassion for my mother. I get it.

New knowledge is the most valuable commodity on earth. The more truth we have to work with, the richer we become.

Robyn is who I am. Rihanna – that’s an idea of who I am.

Many people think of perfectionism as striving to be your best, but it is not about self-improvement; it’s about earning approval and acceptance.

Even though I was very shy, I found I could get onstage if I had a new identity.

The more you seek the uncomfortable, the more you will become comfortable.

It’s true my father abused me and didn’t love and protect me the way he should have, and at times it seemed no one would ever help me and it would never end. But God always had a plan for my life, and He has redeemed me.

Allow children to be happy in their own way, for what better way will they find?

As long as I’m learning something, I figure I’m OK – it’s a decent day.

The faults of a superior person are like the sun and moon. They have their faults, and everyone sees them; they change and everyone looks up to them.

I think that I do feel that my nature is to express what this self, this particular self at this time, experiences in the world. And that is so organic – I use this metaphor a lot but I’ll use it again – it’s like a pine tree producing pine cones, or a blackberry bush producing blackberries – it’s just what happens with this being, now.

Money does not change people, people change.

I think everyone’s inherently snobbish. Things that are very popular are not taken seriously, because the snobbish side of one says, ‚Well, if everyone likes it it can’t be that good.‘ Whereas if only I and a couple of other people like it, then it must be really something special.