If you would take, you must first give, this is the beginning of intelligence.

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

Sincere words are not fine; fine words are not sincere.

The least initial deviation from the truth is multiplied later a thousandfold.

None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens to this whisper which is heard by him alone.

Aim for the highest.

Sometimes the first duty of intelligent men is the restatement of the obvious.

A man’s own manner and character is what most becomes him.

I think that I am better than the people who are trying to reform me.

Education is the period during which you are being instructed by somebody you do not know, about something you do not want to know.

I created myself. I have taught myself so much.

We should not fret for what is past, nor should we be anxious about the future; men of discernment deal only with the present moment.

You know, not to sound corny or nuthin‘, but I felt like a fighter comin‘ up, man. I felt like, you know, I’m being attacked for this reason or that reason, and I gotta fight my way through this.

Don’t let schooling interfere with your education.

Employ your time in improving yourself by other men’s writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for.

If we accept being talked to any kind of a way, then we are telling ourselves we are not quite worth the best. And if we have the effrontery to talk to anybody with less than courtesy, we tell ourselves and the world we are not very intelligent.

Send forth the child and childish man together, and blush for the pride that libels our own old happy state, and gives its title to an ugly and distorted image.

Well I think a lot of times we’re putting things off and I’m going to do it later. I’m going to break this bad habit or I’m going to pursue this dream or I’m going to treat my spouse better.

Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.

Either you’re the one erasing or you’re the one being erased.

Wise men don’t need advice. Fools won’t take it.

Men are born to succeed, not to fail.

He who cannot give anything away cannot feel anything either.

Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper.

It is for us to pray not for tasks equal to our powers, but for powers equal to our tasks, to go forward with a great desire forever beating at the door of our hearts as we travel toward our distant goal.

People who use time wisely spend it on activities that advance their overall purpose in life.

To know anything well involves a profound sensation of ignorance.

Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children.

Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life so.

Knowledge is true opinion.

I can’t keep somebody from being a star, and I can’t make somebody a star, and nobody can.

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.

Nothing is more terrible than activity without insight.

If a person gets his attitude toward money straight, it will help straighten out almost every other area in his life.

All this worldly wisdom was once the unamiable heresy of some wise man.

The art of being a slave is to rule one’s master.

To those whose talents are above mediocrity, the highest subjects may be announced. To those who are below mediocrity, the highest subjects may not be announced.

On Sundays when I speak, I hopefully give somebody something that they can use the next day at work or at home.

The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.

Silence is the virtue of fools.

Never marry someone in hope that they’ll change later.

If you don’t like what you’re doing, then don’t do it.

Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing.

Personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures.

People don’t usually compliment your character.

Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.

I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps.

I am never satisfied with myself and that is what keeps me going – I have no post-satisfaction.

When you seek the presence of your creative Spirit and are filled with passion about virtually everything you undertake, you’ll successfully remove the roadblocks from your life and enjoy the active presence of Spirit.

I’m only as good as my last word, my last hook, my last bridge.

Vulnerability is basically uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure.

Bad news isn’t wine. It doesn’t improve with age.

Especially for those of us who lived in single cells, you had the time to sit down and think, and we discovered that sitting down just to think is one of the best ways of keeping yourself fresh and able, to be able to address the problems facing you, and you had the opportunity, also, of examining your past.

People who boast about their I.Q. are losers.

The virtue of justice consists in moderation, as regulated by wisdom.

Get up tomorrow early in the morning, and earlier than you did today, and do the best that you can. Always stay near me, for tomorrow I will have much to do and more than I ever had, and tomorrow blood will leave my body above the breast.

Education comes from within; you get it by struggle and effort and thought.

Regarding life, the wisest men of all ages have judged alike: it is worthless.

Take care to sell your horse before he dies. The art of life is passing losses on.

Knowledge is power.

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