My ultimate goal is to end up being happy. Most of the time.

To do all that one is able to do, is to be a man; to do all that one would like to do, is to be a god.

I am not afraid of saying something and going and pursuing it. That’s it. I see it in my mind. I say it out loud. I go and do it.

I’ve always written. There’s a journal which I kept from about 9 years old. The man who gave it to me lived across the street from the store and kept it when my grandmother’s papers were destroyed. I’d written some essays. I loved poetry, still do. But I really, really loved it then.

I don’t really know that much about love, it turns out.

When I write about a 15-year old, I jump, I return to the days when I was that age. It’s like a time machine. I can remember everything. I can feel the wind. I can smell the air. Very actually. Very vividly.

I always entertain the notion that I’m wrong, or that I’ll have to revise my opinion. Most of the time that feels good; sometimes it really hurts and is embarrassing.

Millions of people live their entire lives without finding themselves. But it is something I must do.

When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.

Daring to set boundaries is about having the courage to love ourselves, even when we risk disappointing others.

My father wasn’t perfect. He had a temper. I took some of that. He would snap, but the older he got, he started calming down. He learned about life, but the thing that he taught my whole family was that family was the most important thing and, no matter what, if a family member needs you, you go and help them out; you get there.

You live and learn. At any rate, you live.

I want to challenge you today to get out of your comfort zone. You have so much incredible potential on the inside. God has put gifts and talents in you that you probably don’t know anything about.

The more people I reach, the more people there are that have opinions about me. Not everyone loves me, but I have to be okay no matter what they think about me.

I just want to be myself.

People don’t usually compliment your character.

I hate to be smart.

I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.

I’m an optimist in the sense that I believe humans are noble and honorable, and some of them are really smart. I have a very optimistic view of individuals.

What you have outside you counts less than what you have inside you.

I try to be the same person I was yesterday.

I wish they would only take me as I am.

Small aim is a crime.

People have so many hang-ups about how other people live their lives. People always want to keep you in a little box, or they need to label you and fix you in time and location.

I have an expression I use as I’ve gone around the world through my career: ‚You never tell another man or woman what’s in their interest. They know their interest better than you know their interest.‘

I’m perpetually lonely.

Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have. Make the Now the primary focus of your life.

We rarely confide in those who are better than we are.

Adopt responsibility for your own well-being, try to put your family together, try to serve your community, try to seek for eternal truth… That’s the sort of thing that can ground you in your life, enough so that you can withstand the difficulty of life.

Action expresses priorities.

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.

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

I love designing at the moment, I’m so happy with my work.

The strongest influences in my life and my work are always whomever I love. Whomever I love and am with most of the time, or whomever I remember most vividly. I think that’s true of everyone, don’t you?

People say you have to hit rock bottom, and, I can tell you, almost dying is as rock bottom as it gets.

The truth is, anyone can start projects. The world is full of just-started projects that looked great at the time but were never completed.

Forgiveness is not a feeling – it’s a decision we make because we want to do what’s right before God. It’s a quality decision that won’t be easy and it may take time to get through the process, depending on the severity of the offense.

I have total recall. I remember being born. I remember being in the womb, I remember being inside. Coming out was great.

I remember, when I was a young guy in the SEAL teams, I was very afraid of making mistakes and looking stupid or doing dumb things and getting a bad reputation.

I fear that many a man’s good resolutions only need the ordinary fire of daily life to make them melt away. So, too, with fine professions and the boastings of perfection which abound in this age of shams.

If you don’t like how things are, change it! You’re not a tree.

The more you seek the uncomfortable, the more you will become comfortable.

Suffering by nature or chance never seems so painful as suffering inflicted on us by the arbitrary will of another.

The essence of philosophy is that a man should so live that his happiness shall depend as little as possible on external things.

Our words will either bring life and victory or death and destruction. If we want to be happy, we have to be serious about speaking words of life that line up with God’s Word.

Sexism is part of every industry and must be addressed. But I try not to focus on the negative but the positive side of what we can bring.

It’s true that I’ve never had a burning desire to rebel against my parents.

Thinking is a wonderful tool if it’s applied. Thinking, however, can not become the master. Thinking is a very bad master. If you’re dominated by thinking then your life becomes very restricted.

Wealth is not his that has it, but his that enjoys it.

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

Watch what people are cynical about, and one can often discover what they lack.

Understand this law and you will then know, beyond room for the slightest doubt, that you are constantly punishing yourself for every wrong you commit and rewarding yourself for every act of constructive conduct in which you indulge.

I have never been able to renounce the light, the pleasure of being, and the freedom in which I grew up.

I think that, whatever happens, I’m just happy I’ve written those songs and I’ve made an album. That’s really big for me, and I’m proud of that.

Beware of the man who does not return your blow: he neither forgives you nor allows you to forgive yourself.

When we do the best that we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another.

Getting organized in the normal routines of life and finishing little projects you’ve started is an important first step toward realizing larger goals. If you can’t get a handle on the small things, how will you ever get it together to focus on the big things?

To be honest, I never really considered myself to be too much of an actress. So, whenever I get the chance to do music, I’m always, like, just in it. It’s like, ‚Oh my God, I finally get to do this. I’m so happy.‘

To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.

I’m crazy and I don’t pretend to be anything else.

We have all had the experience of finding that our reactions and perhaps even our deeds have denied beliefs we thought were ours.