I’m not in control of my muse. My muse does all the work.

When I was making ‚Star Wars,‘ I wasn’t restrained by any kind of science. I simply said, ‚I’m going to create a world that’s fun and interesting, makes sense, and seems to have a reality to it.‘

Pennies do not come from heaven. They have to be earned here on earth.

Every secret of a writer’s soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind is written large in his works.

It is not your paintings I like, it is your painting.

Those who have been writing literature have not been writing life.

If a man knows not what harbor he seeks, any wind is the right wind.

I believe you have to be willing to be misunderstood if you’re going to innovate.

Steven Spielberg was my childhood hero.

Beethoven can write music, thank God, but he can do nothing else on earth.

I want to be an Asian Robert De Niro.

I never experiment with anything in my books. Experimentation means you don’t know what you’re doing.

Since I was old enough to understand what a songwriter/producer is, I’ve had a curiosity about how Max Martin creates what he creates. I wanted to see that happen. I wanted to be there. I wanted to learn from him.

In America there’s no way I can make the kind of movie I like to make.

It was very lucky for me as a writer that I studied the physical sciences rather than English. I wrote for my own amusement. There was no kindly English professor to tell me for my own good how awful my writing really was. And there was no professor with the power to order me what to read, either.

Every artist was first an amateur.

A guilty conscience needs to confess. A work of art is a confession.

To me, the most important artists in my career are Arcangel and Balvin. Arcangel gave me the push, the respect in the streets.

I know of no single formula for success. But over the years I have observed that some attributes of leadership are universal and are often about finding ways of encouraging people to combine their efforts, their talents, their insights, their enthusiasm and their inspiration to work together.

The doors of wisdom are never shut.

He is the greatest artist who has embodied, in the sum of his works, the greatest number of the greatest ideas.

The writing process, the way I go about it is I do whatever the beat feels like, whatever the beat is telling me to do. Usually when the beat comes on, I think of a hook or the subject I want to rap about almost instantly. Within four, eight bars of it playing I’m just like, ‚Oh, OK. This is what I wanna do‘.

In writing, I apply my feminine side and respect the mystery involved in creation.

Every now and then I will see a word as if for the first time, and suddenly appreciate that Evian is ‚naive‘ spelled backward, or that Bosnia is an anagram of ‚bonsai.‘

Deep down, I know I have this intuition or instinct that a lot of creative people have, that their demons are also what make them create.

I really started writing music to challenge myself, to see what I could write.

Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.

My career as Nipsey Hussle is based on my life as Ermias Asghedom.

When you’re around me and really see that all I do is live and breathe for my work, it’s not strange, it’s just Gaga.

There, in the chords and melodies, is everything I want to say. The words just jolly it along. It’s always been my way of expressing what, for me, is inexpressible by any other means.

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.

Let every dawn be to you as the beginning of life, and every setting sun be to you as its close.

I’ve never had writer’s block.

When one has a great deal to put into it a day has a hundred pockets.

I try to do the fancy things out there by going with both hands, making crossover moves, and having a certain creativity and flair to my game.

What kind of people do they think we are? Is it possible they do not realize that we shall never cease to persevere against them until they have been taught a lesson which they and the world will never forget?

And you find as a writer there are certain spots on the planet where you write better than others, and I believe in that. And New Orleans is one of them.

And I wound up in New Orleans for all those years and it was a great place, really a catalyst creatively.

When I was five, I think, that’s when I started wanting to be an actress. I loved to play. I didn’t like the world around me because it was kind of grim, but I loved to play house. It was like you could make your own boundaries.

Tones sound, and roar and storm about me until I have set them down in notes.

The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm.

I think it all comes back to being very selfish as an artist. I mean, I really do just write and record what interests me and I do approach the stage shows in much the same way.

In 1995, I was diagnosed with cancer, and I had to practice what I preached. I had always said to ‚believe in God‘ and ‚don’t give up‘ to little kids who had been diagnosed with cancer. I then thought if I can’t call on that same God and same strength that I told people about, I would be a liar and a phony.

I never wanted to write the sort of song that said, ‚Look at how abnormal and crazy and out there I am, man!‘

I experience a period of frightening clarity in those moments when nature is so beautiful. I am no longer sure of myself, and the paintings appear as in a dream.

The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time.

What I’ve discovered is that in art, as in music, there’s a lot of truth-and then there’s a lie. The artist is essentially creating his work to make this lie a truth, but he slides it in amongst all the others. The tiny little lie is the moment I live for, my moment. It’s the moment that the audience falls in love.

The merit of originality is not novelty; it is sincerity.

The scientific man does not aim at an immediate result. He does not expect that his advanced ideas will be readily taken up. His work is like that of the planter – for the future. His duty is to lay the foundation for those who are to come, and point the way.

Historian: an unsuccessful novelist.

I take inspiration from everyone and everything. I’m inspired by current champions, former champions, true competitors, people dedicated to their dream, hard workers, dreamers, believers, achievers.

I didn’t live at school, I lived where I could and studied what I enjoyed studying. I took what I wanted from that education but was making my first record at the same time. I don’t know anyone from school. I was just leading a different life. I was really interested in writing and other things.

The Bible says to ‚fear not,‘ but this doesn’t mean you should never feel scared. It means when you do feel fear, keep going forward and do what you are supposed to do. Or as I like to say, do it afraid.

Wine gives a man nothing… it only puts in motion what had been locked up in frost.

The bird is powered by its own life and by its motivation.

I made all my generals out of mud.

To take a few nouns, and a few pronouns, and adverbs and adjectives, and put them together, ball them up, and throw them against the wall to make them bounce. That’s what Norman Mailer did. That’s what James Baldwin did, and Joan Didion did, and that’s what I do – that’s what I mean to do.

My paintings have gotten to be pretty popular and I’ve taken a little bit more interest in painting the last few years. In fact, my novel that I wrote not too long ago, ‚The Hornet’s Nest,‘ I painted the cover picture for it and I do a good bit of painting now.

When I checked into SEAL Team One many years ago, one of the things that I noticed was there was this old guy, who was younger than I am today, who I decided that I was going to be like. I wanted to emulate what he was doing, and one of those things was he got to work before anybody else.

Keep a good attitude and do the right thing even when it’s hard. When you do that you are passing the test. And God promises you your marked moments are on their way.

Write injuries in dust, benefits in marble.