It’s easy to become very self-critical when you’re an actor. Then you get critiqued by the critics. Whether you agree with them or not, people are passing judgment on you.

I was ill, and everyone could see it but me.

Modesty is a learned affectation. And as soon as life slams the modest person against the wall, that modesty drops.

If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self.

I am being frank about myself in this book. I tell of my first mistake on page 850.

No one gets away with anything, ever, so take responsibility for your own life.

Testing oneself is best when done alone.

I find capitalism repugnant. It is filthy, it is gross, it is alienating… because it causes war, hypocrisy and competition.

I think that God, in creating man, somewhat overestimated his ability.

Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire, called conscience.

Everybody is going to have their critics. It’s easy to get discouraged in life.

Of all acts of man repentance is the most divine. The greatest of all faults is to be conscious of none.

Friendship with ones self is all important, because without it one cannot be friends with anyone else in the world.

I’ve never been an intellectual but I have this look.

There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophies. My brain and my heart are my temples; my philosophy is kindness.

Every time you think the problem is ‚out there,‘ that very thought is the problem.

A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.

Only the really plain people know about love – the very fascinating ones try so hard to create an impression that they soon exhaust their talents.

I don’t mind telling a dark side.

What you are comes to you.

It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.

If you desire to be good, begin by believing that you are wicked.

People take the little bit of information they’re fed, and they draw a picture of who you are. Most of the time, it’s wrong.

I’ve never been reckless – it’s always calculated. I’m mischievous, but I’m calculated.

Humility is to make a right estimate of one’s self.

To know oneself, one should assert oneself.

Somewhere, everywhere, now hidden, now apparent in what ever is written down, is the form of a human being. If we seek to know him, are we idly occupied?

Just because I managed to do a little something, I don’t want anyone back home to think I got the big head.

I have an existential map. It has ‚You are here‘ written all over it.

My purpose is to help people look at themselves and begin to shift their concepts. Remember, we are not our country, our race, or religion. We are eternal spirits. Seeing ourselves as spiritual beings without label is a way to transform the world and reach a sacred place for all of humanity.

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

A true artist is expected to be all that is noble-minded, and this is not altogether a mistake; on the other hand, however, in what a mean way are critics allowed to pounce upon us.

You’re president, if you conclude my judgment is not the right judgment, I abide by that, but I want an opportunity to have an input.

He is lost who is possessed by carnal desire.

Every man can tell how many goats or sheep he possesses, but not how many friends.

I’ve always said the one advantage an actor has of converting to a director is that he’s been in front of the camera. He doesn’t have to get in front of the camera again, subliminally or otherwise.

When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate.

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

There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one’s self.

Anger is never without a reason, but seldom with a good one.

Certainly I’m not going to sit on the Internet all day and read what Sam from Iowa is saying about me. But I’m a sponge. I’ve always been a sponge.

How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours.

Great grief does not of itself put an end to itself.

I think the best thing I ever did with my life was stand up and say I’ve got Alzheimer’s.

Pride deafens us to the advice or warnings of those around us.

I have learned that as long as I hold fast to my beliefs and values – and follow my own moral compass – then the only expectations I need to live up to are my own.

I’ve been reckless, but I’m not a rebel without a cause.

The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions.

Many people have an intense feeling about what they’re best at. Too often, they’re driven away from it by other people.

The ego is nothing other than the focus of conscious attention.

Know your worth! People always act like they’re doing more for you than you’re doing for them.

True self is non-self, the awareness that the self is made only of non-self elements. There’s no separation between self and other, and everything is interconnected. Once you are aware of that you are no longer caught in the idea that you are a separate entity.

When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy. When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.

It is not until you become a mother that your judgment slowly turns to compassion and understanding.

I’ve learned that usually, the less I know about other people, the better off I am.

Be as you wish to seem.

When I was very young I was sort of floored by the fact that my mother and my father and everyone I knew was going to die one day, and myself too. I had a sort of a philosophical crisis. I couldn’t believe that we were mortal.

No one knows Anne’s better side, and that’s why most people can’t stand me. Oh, I can be an amusing clown for an afternoon, but after that, everyone’s had enough of me to last a month.

The knighthood was a tremendous honour, I don’t dismiss it. But I feel embarrassed by the flowery, theatrical stuff that goes with being an actor.

Love is a state of Being. Your love is not outside; it is deep within you. You can never lose it, and it cannot leave you. It is not dependent on some other body, some external form.

I kept a diary right after I was born. Day 1: Tired from the move. Day 2: Everyone thinks I’m an idiot.