I’m only going to stand before God and give an account for my life, not for somebody else’s life. If I have a bad attitude, then I need to say there’s no point in me blaming you for what’s wrong in my life.

I’m kind of fascist with myself, you know.

Tears shed for self are tears of weakness, but tears shed for others are a sign of strength.

And when I was young, my family was perfectly nice. I write a lot about it, as you noticed. But it was rather limited. I think, I don’t think anyone in my family would really feel I’d done them an injustice by saying that. We didn’t see many people. There were many books. It was as if I wanted to get away from home.

He who speaks without modesty will find it difficult to make his words good.

Our soul is cast into a body, where it finds number, time, dimension. Thereupon it reasons, and calls this nature necessity, and can believe nothing else.

We must exercise ourselves in the things which bring happiness, since, if that be present, we have everything, and, if that be absent, all our actions are directed toward attaining it.

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.

Be as you wish to seem.

Overall there’s going to be things I’m not great at.

Much of your pain is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self.

Oh, God, I struggle with low self-esteem all the time! I think everyone does. I have so much wrong with me, it’s unbelievable!

I was in a terrible mess in my childhood.

Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them.

You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.

I think happiness is a goal all of us can agree on. Let’s face it – we all would like to be happy.

The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions.

One of the huge imbalances in life is the disparity between your daily existence, with its routines and habits, and the dream you have within yourself of some extraordinarily satisfying way of living.

Every man who knows how to read has it in his power to magnify himself, to multiply the ways in which he exists, to make his life full, significant and interesting.

The U. S. Constitution doesn’t guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself.

I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.

Don’t bring your need to the marketplace, bring your skill. If you don’t feel well, tell your doctor, but not the marketplace. If you need money, go to the bank, but not the marketplace.

What we become depends on what we read after all of the professors have finished with us. The greatest university of all is a collection of books.

Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one’s thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world.

Let everyone try and find that as a result of daily prayer he adds something new to his life, something with which nothing can be compared.

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

Sometimes if you want to see a change for the better, you have to take things into your own hands.

There is no coming to consciousness without pain.

Instead of blaming everyone and everything else for your problems, pray for God to help you take an inventory of what’s been on your mind so you can think about what you’ve been thinking about.

Nature gives you the face you have at twenty; it is up to you to merit the face you have at fifty.

Time is kind of an amazing thing because you can do so much with it. I think people underestimate time… I don’t want to just sit on my phone for hours.

Weak character will neutralize all of the other possible good qualities a person might possess.

I haven’t been faithful to my own advice in the past. I will in the future.

In oneself lies the whole world and if you know how to look and learn, the door is there and the key is in your hand. Nobody on earth can give you either the key or the door to open, except yourself.

Plenty of people wish to become devout, but no one wishes to be humble.

The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.

I want to put a ding in the universe.

Boot camp sucks – SEAL training sucks – but you know what? That’s what makes you good.

I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future.

We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.

Whatever good things we build end up building us.

I don’t follow all the 48 laws. Like, I’ve never crushed anyone totally.

There are few things more dreadful than dealing with a man who knows he is going under, in his own eyes, and in the eyes of others. Nothing can help that man. What is left of that man flees from what is left of human attention.

When you begin to worry, go find something to do. Get busy being a blessing to someone; do something fruitful. Talking about your problem or sitting alone, thinking about it, does no good; it serves only to make you miserable. Above all else, remember that worrying is totally useless. Worrying will not solve your problem.

When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself.

Imperfection clings to a person, and if they wait till they are brushed off entirely, they would spin for ever on their axis, advancing nowhere.

Didn’t get promoted? Good. More time to get better.

All my big mistakes are when I try to second-guess or please an audience. My work is always stronger when I get very selfish about it.

A lot of people cry and complain and put their hand out and beg. It never goes well.

In those days he was wiser than he is now; he used to frequently take my advice.

Honestly, I’ve been thinking lately about how boring I am. When I do get time to myself, I watch TV.

If virtue promises happiness, prosperity and peace, then progress in virtue is progress in each of these for to whatever point the perfection of anything brings us, progress is always an approach toward it.

I don’t think a lot of people know personally who I am.

When your dream is bigger than you are, you only have two choices: give up or get help.

Humility is not something that comes naturally. But it is a cardinal virtue that should be pursued more than any other.

When we see persons of worth, we should think of equaling them; when we see persons of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves.

One advantage in keeping a diary is that you become aware with reassuring clarity of the changes which you constantly suffer.

If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.

A day wasted on others is not wasted on one’s self.

You leave old habits behind by starting out with the thought, ‚I release the need for this in my life‘.

If you deserve it, go get it.