It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.

Though she be but little, she is fierce.

I’m not going to get into the ring with Tolstoy.

Doubt thou the stars are fire, Doubt that the sun doth move. Doubt truth to be a liar, But never doubt I love.

Earn your success based on service to others, not at the expense of others.

The ear is the avenue to the heart.

All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.

Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not.

I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.

A truly good book teaches me better than to read it. I must soon lay it down, and commence living on its hint. What I began by reading, I must finish by acting.

One merit of poetry few persons will deny: it says more and in fewer words than prose.

Do something for somebody everyday for which you do not get paid.

I’d rather give my life than be afraid to give it.

If something inconveniences my children too much or takes me away from them, I won’t do it.

Possession isn’t nine-tenths of the law. It’s nine-tenths of the problem.

How happy had it been for me had I been slain in the battle. It had been far more noble to have died the victim of the enemy than fall a sacrifice to the rage of my friends.

Sweet are the uses of adversity which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, wears yet a precious jewel in his head.

Never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel.

The most important thing is to read as much as you can, like I did. It will give you an understanding of what makes good writing and it will enlarge your vocabulary.

There is no hope of anyone going to Heaven unless they believe this truth I am presenting. You cannot go to Heaven unless you believe with all your heart that Jesus took your place in Hell.

Lost time is never found again.

A woman is an occasional pleasure but a cigar is always a smoke.

Literature, not scripture, sustains the mind and – since there is no other metaphor – also the soul.

Don Quixote’s misfortune is not his imagination, but Sancho Panza.

Love grows by giving. The love we give away is the only love we keep. The only way to retain love is to give it away.

Speculative fiction encompasses that which we could actually do. Sci-fi is that which we’re probably not going to see.

Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness.

Burroughs is crap. Crap.

The ear is the only true writer and the only true reader.

I believe many people feel like God is mad at them.

Life becomes harder for us when we live for others, but it also becomes richer and happier.

If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.

Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.

I am very strict about what I eat. I do not consume anything that my body does not require. It takes a lot of sacrifice and discipline. It wasn’t easy before but now its second nature for me.

Hell is yourself and the only redemption is when a person puts himself aside to feel deeply for another person.

Knowing that the time to sleep has come, the Lord sleeps, and does well in sleeping. Often, when we have been fretting and worrying, we should have glorified God far more had we literally gone to sleep.

I fear that too many have sadly surrendered their agency to the adversary and are saying by their conduct, ‚I care more about satisfying my own desires than I do about bearing the Savior’s power to bless others.‘

A room without books is like a body without a soul.

If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches, and poor men’s cottage princes‘ palaces.

There are slavish souls who carry their appreciation for favors done them so far that they strangle themselves with the rope of gratitude.

Fatigue is the best pillow.

If a secret history of books could be written, and the author’s private thoughts and meanings noted down alongside of his story, how many insipid volumes would become interesting, and dull tales excite the reader!

Why not invest your assets in the companies you really like? As Mae West said, ‚Too much of a good thing can be wonderful‘.

The cool thing about reading is that when you read a short story or you read something that takes your mind and expands where your thoughts can go, that’s powerful.

We must be willing to pay a price for freedom.

Waste brings woe, and sorrow hates despair.

‚Discworld‘ is taking something that you know is ridiculous and treating it as if it is serious, to see if something interesting happens when you do so.

The earth laughs in flowers.

I think when people mean that Discworld books have become darker they really mean the series is growing up. In ‚The Colour of Magic‘ most of the city is set alight. It’s a joke, in much the same way that the Earth is destroyed almost at the start of Douglas Adams’s ‚The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.‘

We ought to do good to others as simply as a horse runs, or a bee makes honey, or a vine bears grapes season after season without thinking of the grapes it has borne.

Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures.

Whatever came to mind, whatever came to hand, I would read.

The smallest feline is a masterpiece.

There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.

If the government ever imposes a tax on books – and I wouldn’t put it past them – I’m in dead trouble.

Too many have dispensed with generosity in order to practice charity.

My mother was a full-time mother. She didn’t have much of her own career, her own life, her own experiences… everything was for her children. I will never be as good a mother as she was. She was just grace incarnate. She was the most generous, loving – she’s better than me.

I will not leave South Africa, nor will I surrender. Only through hardship, sacrifice and militant action can freedom be won. The struggle is my life. I will continue fighting for freedom until the end of my days.

When you are laboring for others let it be with the same zeal as if it were for yourself.

Poetry is what gets lost in translation.

Of course, there are those critics – New York critics as a rule – who say, ‚Well, Maya Angelou has a new book out and of course it’s good but then she’s a natural writer.‘ Those are the ones I want to grab by the throat and wrestle to the floor because it takes me forever to get it to sing. I work at the language.