In each action we must look beyond the action at our past, present, and future state, and at others whom it affects, and see the relations of all those things. And then we shall be very cautious.

If I read a book that impresses me, I have to take myself firmly by the hand, before I mix with other people; otherwise they would think my mind rather queer.

I want to be a man who is truthful and who won’t let pride get in the way of my ripping myself open to my partner and saying, ‚Here I am. This is me.‘ I feel there’s something powerful when a man reaches a point in his life when he can be completely vulnerable.

When it comes to our everyday habits, it’s important to ask: ‚Am I putting God first?‘

Vanity is as ill at ease under indifference as tenderness is under a love which it cannot return.

Never go on trips with anyone you do not love.

The moment people feel they know what to expect from you, your spell on them is broken. More: You have ceded them power.

I don’t know how to function without music. When I’m not making it, I’m listening to it. It gives me courage and takes care of my mind.

Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with peace, joy and serenity.

It’s important that we attempt to extend life beyond Earth now. It is the first time in the four billion-year history of Earth that it’s been possible, and that window could be open for a long time – hopefully it is – or it could be open for a short time. We should err on the side of caution and do something now.

You have to understand that people that are hurting are going to criticize.

I used to worry about every little thing, trying to figure out every problem. Well, I realize now how foolish that was. I was no more in control of my life than the man on the moon.

The finite is annihilated in the presence of the infinite, and becomes a pure nothing. So our spirit before God, so our justice before divine justice.

There is more of good nature than of good sense at the bottom of most marriages.

The next time someone tells you we can trim the budget by cutting aid, I hope you will ask whether it will come at the cost of more people dying.

Sisters are brittle things. God was penurious with me, which makes me shrewd with Him. One is a dainty sum! One bird, one cage, one flight; one song in those far woods, as yet suspected by faith only!

Man only likes to count his troubles, but he does not count his joys.

If a man does not make new acquaintances as he advances through life, he will soon find himself left alone. A man, sir, should keep his friendship in a constant repair.

I cannot always control what goes on outside. But I can always control what goes on inside.

Some Christians feel guilty when they are doing something that isn’t ‚spiritual.‘ Somehow or another, they feel the need to hurry through the grocery store, dash through the house cleaning, and rush through all the daily aspects of life that seem irrelevant to their faith.

I don’t think I’m tangible to myself.

Pity may represent little more than the impersonal concern which prompts the mailing of a check, but true sympathy is the personal concern which demands the giving of one’s soul.

My mother, I suppose, is still a main figure in my life because her life was so sad and unfair, and she so brave, but also because she was determined to make me into the Sunday-school-recitation little girl I was, from the age of seven or so, fighting not to be.

Whosoever is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast or a god.

I think what it really is, is that I date creative people. And I think that what intimidates them is not my purse; it’s my mind.

Simplify, simplify.

I think daughters can change the perception of their fathers.

If you injure your neighbour, better not do it by halves.

Courageous people do not fear forgiving, for the sake of peace.

One of the things I’ve told men over and over and over and over is if you’re being rejected by all the women that you approach, it’s not the women!

I would like to be remembered as someone who did the best she could with the talent she had.

A letdown is worth a few songs. A heartbreak is worth a few albums.

The prospect of dating someone in her twenties becomes less appealing as you get older. At some point in your life, your tolerance level goes down and you realize that, with someone much younger, there’s nothing really to talk about.

I’m married to an Italian woman, and I used to love cooking Italian at home, because it’s one-pot cooking. But my wife does not approve of my Italian cooking.

The African is my brother but he is my younger brother by several centuries.

If we chew every morsel of our food, in that way we become grateful, and when you are grateful, you are happy.

Were it not for imagination a man would be as happy in arms of a chambermaid as of a duchess.

I’ve learned that we all change constantly. It’s rare to find that person who is growing with you in the same way at the same time, who encourages you to grow.

Familiarity breeds contempt – and children.

Love is like a virus. It can happen to anybody at any time.

Everyone has noticed how hard it is to turn our thoughts to God when everything is going well with us… While what we call ‚our own life‘ remains agreeable, we will not surrender it to Him. What, then, can God do in our interests but make ‚our own life‘ less agreeable to us, and take away the plausible sources of false happiness?

I’ve laid my friends bare.

One can be instructed in society, one is inspired only in solitude.

Instead of comparing our lot with that of those who are more fortunate than we are, we should compare it with the lot of the great majority of our fellow men. It then appears that we are among the privileged.

You have to stay fresh and blank in your mind when you go out to bat. You complicate things, and you’re gone.

Buddhism teaches us not to try to run away from suffering. You have to confront suffering. You have to look deeply into the nature of suffering in order to recognize its cause, the making of the suffering.

I don’t hate women – they just sometimes make me mad.

How do I confront aging? With a wonder and a terror. Yeah, I’ll say that. Wonder and terror.

If someone lies, well, you had a choice to trust that person or not. I think the way my father raised me, well, he trusted everybody. And that worked for him.

The problem with meditating is I generally go to sleep, and that’s because I’m doing it wrong.

This is love: the flowering of love is meditation.

I think ‚Dirty Harry‘ was probably sensitive toward the victims of violent crime.

There are as many worlds as there are kinds of days, and as an opal changes its colors and its fire to match the nature of a day, so do I.

He who acts with a constant view to his own advantage will be much murmured against.

Some are reputed sick and some are not. It often happens that the sicker man is the nurse to the sounder.

I think the most important thing is to keep active and to hope that your mind stays active.

I’m an expert typist. I learned in high school. I would close my eyes and just type without worrying about mistakes. I tried to penetrate my heart, and as I let my thoughts drift, things bubbled up to the surface.

It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.

I’ve done a lot of things I’m not proud of, such as getting my girlfriend pregnant when I was 23 and the way I handled that.

One ought to hold on to one’s heart; for if one lets it go, one soon loses control of the head too.

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.