It’s true my father abused me and didn’t love and protect me the way he should have, and at times it seemed no one would ever help me and it would never end. But God always had a plan for my life, and He has redeemed me.

Every morning I jump out of bed and step on a landmine. The landmine is me. After the explosion, I spent the rest of the day putting the pieces together.

Our society is illuminated by the spiritual insights of the Hebrew prophets. America and Israel have a common love of human freedom, and they have a common faith in a democratic way of life.

The main rule to me is to honor God with your life. To life a life of integrity. Not be selfish. You know, help others. But that’s really the essence of the Christian faith.

Always take hold of things by the smooth handle.

A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be.

History will point out some of the things I did wrong and some of the things I did right.

I grew up in an environment where being polite was taken as a weakness. So I just fought everybody.

One of my goals from really early on was that if I was ever fortunate enough to be successful in music, I would want to stay the same person and the same songwriter.

We fear to know the fearsome and unsavory aspects of ourselves, but we fear even more to know the godlike in ourselves.

Often we can help each other most by leaving each other alone; at other times we need the hand-grasp and the word of cheer.

I seldom end up where I wanted to go, but almost always end up where I need to be.

Life isn’t meant to be easy. It’s hard to take being on the top – or on the bottom. I guess I’m something of a fatalist. You have to have a sense of history, I think, to survive some of these things… Life is one crisis after another.

When I first went to places where people were suffering from war and persecution, I felt ashamed of my feelings of sadness. I could see more possibilities in my life.

My father was a mean, controlling and manipulative person for most of his life. He was unpredictable and unstable.

Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity.

Don’t let your ego get too close to your position, so that if your position gets shot down, your ego doesn’t go with it.

I’m on record that it didn’t really traumatize me to do away with some people.

He too serves a certain purpose who only stands and cheers.

He who has felt his own ruin will not imagine the case of any to be hopeless; nor will he think them too fallen to be worthy his regard.

I’ve always believed that success for anyone is all about drive, dedication, and desire, but for me, it’s also been about confidence and faith.

Fine manners need the support of fine manners in others.

I am just one of many thousands called to be an evangelist.

It’s never paid to bet against America. We come through things, but its not always a smooth ride.

My mom and I have always been there for each other. We had some tough times, but she was always there for me.

I always pass on good advice. It is the only thing to do with it. It is never of any use to oneself.

There’s a victory, and defeat; the first and best of victories, the lowest and worst of defeats which each man gains or sustains at the hands not of another, but of himself.

I’ve never been pregnant, so I just feel God didn’t mean for me to have kids so that everybody else’s children could be mine.

I learned that very often the most intolerant and narrow-minded people are the ones who congratulate themselves on their tolerance and open-mindedness.

To become ‚unique,‘ the challenge is to fight the hardest battle which anyone can imagine until you reach your destination.

If I were a Roman Catholic, I should turn a heretic, in sheer desperation, because I would rather go to heaven than go to purgatory.

You have to come to your closed doors before you get to your open doors… What if you knew you had to go through 32 closed doors before you got to your open door? Well, then you’d come to closed door number eight and you’d think, ‚Great, I got another one out of the way’… Keep moving forward.

Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother.

When his life was ruined, his family killed, his farm destroyed, Job knelt down on the ground and yelled up to the heavens, ‚Why god? Why me?‘ and the thundering voice of God answered, ‚There’s just something about you that pisses me off.‘

It is impossible to begin to learn that which one thinks one already knows.

I know that I always wanted things. I was always proud of my people, proud of my home, but I always wanted more. I think most people do.

Our inquiring friends and neighbors not of our faith can also catch the wave. We encourage them to keep all that is good and true in their lives. And we invite them to receive more, especially the glorious truth that through God’s eternal plan, families can be together forever.

I’ve been called a moron since I was about four. My father called me a moron. My grandfather said I was a moron. And a lot of times when I’m driving, I hear I’m a moron. I like being a moron.

You drown not by falling into a river, but by staying submerged in it.

So when these people sell out, even though they get fabulously rich, they’re gypping themselves out of one of the potentially most rewarding experiences of their unfolding lives. Without it, they may never know their values or how to keep their newfound wealth in perspective.

If you ever need anything please don’t hesitate to ask someone else first.

Most people treat the present moment as if it were an obstacle that they need to overcome. Since the present moment is life itself, it is an insane way to live.

You’ll never find a better sparring partner than adversity.

There are so many things we have to overcome in this life with Jesus, His work on the cross. He’s paid the ultimate price for us, so I’m proud to be a child of God.

I’m not going to change the way I look or the way I feel to conform to anything. I’ve always been a freak. So I’ve been a freak all my life and I have to live with that, you know. I’m one of those people.

The gospel to me is simply irresistible.

What it’s like to be me? You know, it’s good to be me. My life is good.

I think that people just have this core desire to express who they are. And I think that’s always existed.

I have a fundamental belief in the Bible as the Word of God, written by those who were inspired. I study the Bible daily.

Let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit.

You don’t have to give way to careless speech or complaining. You don’t have to let your feelings get in the way of what God wants to do in your life.

You can’t put your feet on the ground until you’ve touched the sky.

You cannot be President of the United States if you don’t have faith. Remember Lincoln, going to his knees in times of trial in the Civil War and all that stuff.

Great emergencies and crises show us how much greater our vital resources are than we had supposed.

Let me embrace thee, sour adversity, for wise men say it is the wisest course.

I go to cancer wards, and I tell them guys, ‚I’ve beaten it. You can, too.‘

I am a part of everything that I have read.

Adversity is sometimes hard upon a man; but for one man who can stand prosperity, there are a hundred that will stand adversity.

The most distressing thing that can happen to a prophet is to be proved wrong. The next most distressing thing is to be proved right.

As a vulnerability researcher, the greatest barrier I see is our low tolerance for vulnerability. We’re almost afraid to be happy. We feel like it’s inviting disaster.

One of my big goals as a human being is to continue to write what’s really happening to me, even if it’s a tough pill to swallow for people around me… I do fear that if I ever were to have someone in my life who mattered, I would second-guess every one of my lyrics.