I’m not talent. Not considered ‚talent‘ by Lifetime. I’d like to say I’m their savior, but that would be cocky.

Never say anything about yourself you do not want to come true.

I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.

We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.

Sometimes I think it would be easier to avoid old age, to die young, but then you’d never complete your life, would you? You’d never wholly know you.

The truth doesn’t hurt unless it ought to.

The best author will be the one who is ashamed to become a writer.

Eternal nothingness is fine if you happen to be dressed for it.

The great epochs of our life are the occasions when we gain the courage to rebaptize our evil qualities as our best qualities.

The wisest hustler can suddenly fall for the worst tramp and lose all of his money on her. The hustler is aware of his own weaknesses and openings to con. This awareness is his edge.

Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything wise in this world.

There are very few people who are going to look into the mirror and say, ‚That person I see is a savage monster;‘ instead, they make up some construction that justifies what they do.

I’m not a natural born performer.

Stupidly it should not be. It should be also nice. One must get along with that. Is however not necessary.

There is no room for military people, including our veterans, to see themselves as victims, even if so many of our countrymen are prone to relish that role.

How people themselves perceive what they are doing is not a question that interests me.

I didn’t get trained by the school system like other kids, and when I did concentrate on learning, my mind was cluttered and locked by the programming of the system.

People are more aware now of cities and of different ways of life. I suppose the writing I do is a bit in the past, and I’m not sure it’s the kind of writing I would do if I were starting now.

Talent is something that comes from within; it has nothing to do with age.

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

If you want to be a voice for peace in the world, begin by making peace a permanent condition of your own life.

I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinions of himself than on the opinions of others.

Man must cease attributing his problems to his environment, and learn again to exercise his will – his personal responsibility in the realm of faith and morals.

If I relaxed, if I took my foot off the gas, I would probably die.

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.

I think you can have 10,000 explanations for failure, but no good explanation for success.

Beware of no man more than of yourself; we carry our worst enemies within us.

We are long before we are convinced that happiness is never to be found, and each believes it possessed by others, to keep alive the hope of obtaining it for himself.

I’ve noticed a terrible thing, which is I will agree to anything if it’s far enough in the future.

I exaggerate when I’m angry, but I’ve never gone around telling people things that aren’t true about me.

You’ve got to invest in the world, you’ve got to read, you’ve got to go to art galleries, you’ve got to find out the names of plants. You’ve got to start to love the world and know about the whole genius of the human race. We’re amazing people.

Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is.

Few things can help an individual more than to place responsibility on him, and to let him know that you trust him.

If I’d had some set idea of a finish line, don’t you think I would have crossed it years ago?

To me, business isn’t about wearing suits or pleasing stockholders. It’s about being true to yourself, your ideas and focusing on the essentials.

I want everybody to understand that I am an American Negro first before I am a member of any political party.

I’ve had no problem harnessing anger.

One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar.

In a magazine, one can get – from cover to cover – 15 to 20 different ideas about life and how to live it.

There’s a deceptive sin that can keep us from walking in love: pride. It’s deceptive because when you have pride, you’re usually too proud to admit it. I know this because I used to have teachings on pride and they didn’t sell well.

An unclean person is universally a slothful one.

Almost all absurdity of conduct arises from the imitation of those who we cannot resemble.

Alas, after a certain age every man is responsible for his face.

We run carelessly to the precipice, after we have put something before us to prevent us seeing it.

I never learn anything talking. I only learn things when I ask questions.

It is a most mortifying reflection for a man to consider what he has done, compared to what he might have done.

If it’s going to come out eventually, better have it come out immediately.

It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent.

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 believe every human has a finite number of heartbeats. I don’t intend to waste any of mine.

Don’t grow accustomed to living with less, doing less, and being less to the point that you eventually sit back and accept it.

Man is the only creature that refuses to be what he is.

I stopped doing drugs when I was 20. I was finished with drugs before Nirvana even started.

Whatever that means, however you got on that mountain, why not try to climb it? And do it in your own way.

No one gossips about other people’s secret virtues.

While musical experts of the world focus on what choir members can do, I would like to focus on what choir members can be.

I brought myself down. I impeached myself by resigning.

If you don’t live your life, then who will?

I resolved to stop accumulating and begin the infinitely more serious and difficult task of wise distribution.

Give a man health and a course to steer, and he’ll never stop to trouble about whether he’s happy or not.

That nice, soft pillow and the warm blanket, and it’s all comfortable, and no one wants to leave that comfort – but if you can wake up early in the morning, get a head start on everyone else that’s still sleeping, get productive time doing things that you need to do – that’s a huge piece to moving your life forward.