I’m always trying. Between every book, I think, ‚Well now, it’s time to get down to the serious stuff.‘

I’m terrible at reading scripts. I love to read, and I hate reading scripts.

The man who does more than he is paid for will soon be paid for more than he does.

Whether you want to go into music, whether you want to be a lawyer, whether you want to be President of the United States, the bottom line for all of you is that you have got to get your education.

Let not your mind run on what you lack as much as on what you have already.

I’d like to think you don’t stop being creative once you get happy. My ultimate goal is to end up being happy. Most of the time.

If I wished to do something, even if I couldn’t find anyone who wanted to make the effort with me, I would go out solo climbing. I did find solo climbing very challenging and a little frightening. You knew that you were completely on your own, and you had to overcome all the problems and possible dangers.

Though ambition in itself is a vice, it often is also the parent of virtue.

The Army will take its lessons learned. They’re excellent at looking into themselves and reflecting on what did we do right, what did we do wrong.

I decided to pursue music, so I dropped out of school and I told my parents I didn’t want any money from them. I got three jobs and I just hit the ground running.

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

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.

Yes, and I can sit down on a white piece of paper and work because I don’t believe too much into inspiration, only I’m waiting for inspiration, work and then inspiration may come. It’s a little too easy to say that.

We are not retreating – we are advancing in another direction.

I learned to read very early so I could read the comics, which I then started to draw.

I always teach myself calm and visualization stuff.

The Bible illustrated by Dore occupied many of my hours – and I think probably gave me many nightmares.

I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.

I started out in life as a poet; I was only writing poetry all through my 20s. It wasn’t until I was about 30 that I got serious about writing prose. While I was writing poems, I would often divert myself by reading detective novels; I liked them.

Self-talk, for me, has been the biggest thing in my life. A lot of us have a dialogue that is crap. It’s a crappy dialogue. We live in a world right now that is very external. Everything is very on the surface. Superficial. Everything. And what we’re telling ourselves is what we see on TV.

I like pushing boundaries.

I was never really good at anything except for the ability to learn.

An individual step in character training is to put responsibility on the individual.

What you don’t do can be a destructive force.

No one was ever great without some portion of divine inspiration.

You not supposed to feel down over whatever happen to you. I mean, you’re supposed to use whatever happen to you as some type of upper, not a downer.

If we keep doing what we’re doing, we’re going to keep getting what we’re getting.

There are a lot of inaccuracies out there when it comes to the SEAL training process. You will see guys carrying logs around on television. They think that the hardest part about being on a SEAL team is getting through that training. The fact of the matter is, if you have a good attitude, that training is fun. I had a blast.

Education doesn’t change life much. It just lifts trouble to a higher plane of regard.

Most people already know what they’re doing wrong. When I get them to church I want to tell them that you can change.

Sometimes it is better to light a flamethrower than curse the darkness.

I read the ‚Old Testament‘ all the way through when I was about 13 and was horrified. A few months afterwards I read ‚The Origin Of Species‘, hallucinating very mildly because I was in bed with flu at the time. Despite that, or because of that, it all made perfect sense.

Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.

I give opinions, not advice.

I’m not the sort to back away from a fight. I don’t believe in shrinking from anything. It’s not my speed; I’m a guy who meets adversities head on.

If I get stuck, I look at a book that tells me how someone else did it. I turn the pages, and then I say, ‚Oh, I forgot that bit,‘ then close the book and carry on. Finally, after you’ve figured out how to do it, you read how they did it and find out how dumb your solution is and how much more clever and efficient theirs is!

Just do what must be done. This may not be happiness, but it is greatness.

I am an over-achiever, and I want to be known for the good things in my life.

It is only imperfection that complains of what is imperfect. The more perfect we are the more gentle and quiet we become towards the defects of others.

Anything I do, I want to do it well.

Of course there are moments that you wonder how long you should be doing it because there are other aspects which are not nice, of this lifestyle. But I just love winning.

The problem isn’t that Johnny can’t read. The problem isn’t even that Johnny can’t think. The problem is that Johnny doesn’t know what thinking is; he confuses it with feeling.

The time is always right to do what is right.

A man, as a general rule, owes very little to what he is born with – a man is what he makes of himself.

Before you start some work, always ask yourself three questions – Why am I doing it, What the results might be and Will I be successful. Only when you think deeply and find satisfactory answers to these questions, go ahead.

If you would lift me up you must be on higher ground.

Begin to be now what you will be hereafter.

My whole thing now is I know how to think properly to be successful in all aspects of my life. It’s not about ultra running or being a SEAL or pull-up records: it’s about if you want to be better you, have to change your perceived limitations and take the barriers down.

We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal, and then leap in the dark to our success.

Your energy, your spirit are important considerations. Feeling petty and frustrated can have reverberating consequences for your ability to think strategically and reach your goals.

Are you laboring under the impression that I read these memoranda of yours? I can’t even lift them.

We should be too big to take offense and too noble to give it.

The thing that motivates me is a very common form of motivation. And that is, with other folks counting on me, it’s so easy to be motivated.

I just get annoyed at myself. A lot of swearing goes on generally when I am driving.

If you tell me there’s something I can’t do, I’ll want to do it even more. Especially when it comes to entertaining.

People always tell you, ‚Be humble. Be humble.‘ When was the last time someone told you to be amazing? Be great! Be great! Be awesome! Be awesome!

Do the thing you fear most and the death of fear is certain.

For a young person, it is almost a sin, or at least a danger, to be too preoccupied with himself; but for the ageing person, it is a duty and a necessity to devote serious attention to himself.

‚Your Erroneous Zones’ was the book that went over the top simply because I believed in it so much.

Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.

The proper study of mankind is books.