Never contract friendship with a man that is not better than thyself.

The truest wisdom is a resolute determination.

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

I can’t go out with a Republican.

Fame is ultimately about the cycles of desire and how to do away with them or manage them well.

If women were particular about men’s characters, they would never get married at all.

I wouldn’t say that anyone in fashion is on my side. I don’t think there’s anyone on my side.

Jump out the window if you are the object of passion. Flee it if you feel it. Passion goes, boredom remains.

Play not with paradoxes. That caustic which you handle in order to scorch others may happen to sear your own fingers and make them dead to the quality of things.

Love is the ability and willingness to allow those that you care for to be what they choose for themselves without any insistence that they satisfy you.

All difficult things have their origin in that which is easy, and great things in that which is small.

I wasn’t that great a chef, and I don’t think I’m that great a writer.

Whatever work you do, you think are you doing this for the good of the nation? That’s the basic training. The other basic training is discipline. Your life should be disciplined. The other thing they say is what work you get, do it well.

The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.

The wise use of your freedom to make your own decisions is crucial to your spiritual growth, now and for eternity.

I remember when I was in high school I didn’t have a new dress for each special occasion. The girls would bring the fact to my attention, not always too delicately. The boys, however, never bothered with the subject. They were my friends, not because of the size of my wardrobe but because they liked me.

My goal was never to be the loudest or the craziest. It was to be the most entertaining.

No matter how beautiful a woman might be, you’re always threatened by certain… You’re always threatened by other women, period.

I was brought up to try to see what was wrong and right it. Since I am a writer, writing is how I right it.

Wisdom stands at the turn in the road and calls upon us publicly, but we consider it false and despise its adherents.

There is a tendency for things to right themselves.

How can sincerity be a condition of friendship? A taste for truth at any cost is a passion which spares nothing.

Untutored courage is useless in the face of educated bullets.

If we had more hell in the pulpit, we would have less hell in the pew.

I’ve always wanted male friends that I could be real intimate with and talk about important things with and be as affectionate with that person as I would be with a girl.

If you stop struggling, then you stop life.

I had given up some youth for knowledge, but my gain was more valuable than the loss.

I think that if all kids aspire to reach a point where they could feed themselves and a few of their friends, this would be good for the world surely.

You can live your life angry, bitter, mad at somebody or even guilty, not letting go of your own mistakes, but you won’t receive the good things God has in store.

Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company.

All the songs I write are about human dynamics, whether it’s with girlfriends, boyfriends, or family.

There are three methods to gaining wisdom. The first is reflection, which is the highest. The second is limitation, which is the easiest. The third is experience, which is the bitterest.

Remember, always give your best. Never get discouraged. Never be petty. Always remember, others may hate you. But those who hate you don’t win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself.

We cannot wish for that we know not.

Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish. Do not overdo it.

There’s only one way to have a happy marriage and as soon as I learn what it is I’ll get married again.

It’s disgusting, but my father taught me when your mouth gets dry, just suck the sweat out of your own jersey. There’s no bravado to any of it; it’s just a disgusting little trick.

The older I get the more wisdom I find in the ancient rule of taking first things first. A process which often reduces the most complex human problem to a manageable proportion.

To me, if you’re trying to impress a girl, get a date, they’re gonna like that more because you’re a confident guy. That’s what it comes down to.

Do not weep; do not wax indignant. Understand.

Because your own strength is unequal to the task, do not assume that it is beyond the powers of man; but if anything is within the powers and province of man, believe that it is within your own compass also.

In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.

I’m not the same man I used to be, I’m not out hell-raising, stuff like that. I am a changed man.

I believe in love at first sight. You want that connection, and then you want some problems.

I think beating myself up sometimes and knowing I am not happy when I do it makes me work harder to do a good job.

If there are people you haven’t forgiven, you’re not going to really awaken. You have to let go.

Human beings must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it.

Never envy a man his lady. Behind it all lays a living hell.

Often people become our friend or follower with an undercurrent of resentment in our having more success than they have. They secretly desire the opportunity to take us down a notch; they have a nose for any misstep on our part they can exploit.

Each has his past shut in him like the leaves of a book known to him by his heart, and his friends can only read the title.

As to marriage or celibacy, let a man take which course he will, he will be sure to repent.

Whenever you’re in conflict with someone, there is one factor that can make the difference between damaging your relationship and deepening it. That factor is attitude.

We should every night call ourselves to an account: what infirmity have I mastered today? what passions opposed? what temptation resisted? what virtue acquired? Our vices will abate of themselves if they be brought every day to the shrift.

Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.

I met my husband before I became a star, and he doesn’t care about any of it.

Be slow in choosing a friend, slower in changing.

Does anybody really think that they didn’t get what they had because they didn’t have the talent or the strength or the endurance or the commitment?

I think I have had so much blessing – I’ve had my brother, who was brilliant – I think my family came closest to making a genius when they made my brother – Bailey was just all of that. He loved me.

Absolutely not. I have no problem with commitment. In fact, I love having someone in my life.

Give whatever you are doing and whoever you are with the gift of your attention.

The major reason for setting a goal is for what it makes of you to accomplish it. What it makes of you will always be the far greater value than what you get.