No parent is perfect; we all can look back and think of things we could’ve done to help our children be better prepared for adulthood. And sometimes it’s best to admit it to them and encourage them to learn from our mistakes.

I am always wary of decisions made hastily. I am always wary of the first decision, that is, the first thing that comes to my mind if I have to make a decision. This is usually the wrong thing. I have to wait and assess, looking deep into myself, taking the necessary time.

There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.

People pay for what they do, and still more for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it very simply; by the lives they lead.

I am in my own head most of the time.

Vanity can create a very cruel space for you if you don’t know how to manage it.

I am proud of having done what I’ve done. Very proud.

You send a boy to school in order to make friends – the right sort.

Thoughts are fine when you don’t confuse them with who you are, and then thoughts are not a problem. Thinking is a wonderful tool to create things in this world. It only becomes problematic and a source of suffering when you confuse thinking with who you are.

When I was growing up, I wanted to adopt, because I was aware there were kids that didn’t have parents.

It’s like, remember who you always were, where you came from, who your parents were, how they raised you. Because that authentic self is going to follow you all through life, so make sure that it’s solid so it’s something that you can hold on and be proud of for the rest of your life.

Something I learned as an actor was which scenes needed to be rehearsed and which actors are good with rehearsal, which actors learn from it, and which ones grow stale because they start to second-guess themselves.

A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.

In this big ball of people, I’m just one grain of sand on this beach.

I don’t think my parents liked me. They put a live teddy bear in my crib.

He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying.

Don’t ever forget two things I’m going to tell you. One, don’t believe everything that’s written about you. Two, don’t pick up too many checks.

Then suddenly something just kicked me. I kind of woke up and realised that I was in a different atmosphere than you normally are. My immediate reaction was to back off, slow down.

Parentage is a very important profession, but no test of fitness for it is ever imposed in the interest of the children.

I’m not a god – I do bad things.

I want parents to teach that academic intelligence is essential, but so is financial intelligence.

The ‚Billionaire‘ song is what my kids tease me with. They sing it to me. It’s funny.

Naturally, everybody has certain things they wish they hadn’t done in life. They wish they hadn’t kicked their dog when they were ten or something.

The primary distinction of the artist is that he must actively cultivate that state which most men, necessarily, must avoid; the state of being alone.

I’m perpetually lonely.

When I tell a child something the first time, I’m nice. The 15th time, I start to get aggravated.

The greatest magnifying glasses in the world are a man’s own eyes when they look upon his own person.

What could I say to you that would be of value, except that perhaps you seek too much, that as a result of your seeking you cannot find.

The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts.

Would that I were a dry well, and that the people tossed stones into me, for that would be easier than to be a spring of flowing water that the thirsty pass by, and from which they avoid drinking.

I never think about myself as an artist working in this time. I think about it in macro.

Every man must do two things alone; he must do his own believing and his own dying.

All through my writing life, I’ve had this impulse to write autobiographical works.

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.

I like to take every day just searching my own heart, making sure that I’m on course, and I’m doing what God wants me to do. I’m real good with not looking to the critics and looking straight ahead.

My parents taught me never to judge others based on whom they love, what color their skin is, or their religion.

Whosoever is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast or a god.

To be angry is to revenge the faults of others on ourselves.

The only time my records are going to be broken is by my own spawn. I’m going be training that child out the womb.

As a father, I always want my son to be perfect. When he was young, I tried to train him in martial arts, but he said, ‚I don’t want to become like Bruce Lee’s son, with everybody telling me how good my father was.‘ I just think my son is too lazy.

Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.

Man the individual consoles himself for his passing with the thought of the offspring or the works which he leaves behind.

The place of the father in the modern suburban family is a very small one, particularly if he plays golf.

A man’s own judgment should be the final appeal in all that relates to himself.

To put it bluntly, I seem to have a whole superstructure with no foundation. But I’m working on the foundation.

It’s much worse to read criticism about your son than yourself.

My three children have brought me great joy.

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.

Remember, you can always stoop and pick up nothing.

My mother did not like children.

Knowledge of the self is the mother of all knowledge. So it is incumbent on me to know my self, to know it completely, to know its minutiae, its characteristics, its subtleties, and its very atoms.

We often want one thing and pray for another, not telling the truth even to the gods.

Most of the time I spend when I get up in the morning is trying to figure out what is going to happen.

I have many regrets, and I’m sure everyone does. The stupid things you do, you regret… if you have any sense, and if you don’t regret them, maybe you’re stupid.

I was in a queer mood, thinking myself very old: but now I am a woman again – as I always am when I write.

Give a little love to a child, and you get a great deal back.

Didn’t get promoted? Good. More time to get better.

I have a son, who is my heart. A wonderful young man, daring and loving and strong and kind.

I’ve had all six of my books reach the New York Times bestseller list, which is especially rewarding seeing as I flunked out of high school twice because I couldn’t write. It just goes to show you that we learn from our mistakes.

Many people identify their sense of self with the problems they have, or think they have.

There was never a child so lovely but his mother was glad to get him to sleep.