Normally, when someone we love is turning away from a struggle, we self-protect by also turning away. That’s definitely my first response. I think change is more likely to happen if both partners have common language and a shared lens to see problems.

I just think you ought to talk straight with your people.

It is impossible to love and to be wise.

Every day we should hear at least one little song, read one good poem, see one exquisite picture, and, if possible, speak a few sensible words.

Marriage is neither heaven nor hell, it is simply purgatory.

I think the worst part about a breakup sometimes, if one could choose a worst part, would possibly be if you get out of a relationship, and you don’t recognize yourself because you changed a lot about you.

The rule of friendship means there should be mutual sympathy between them, each supplying what the other lacks and trying to benefit the other, always using friendly and sincere words.

Your ordinary acts of love and hope point to the extraordinary promise that every human life is of inestimable value.

When I talk to kids, I’m really listening. When I do that, we have a little bit of a bigger connection than me being Kendrick Lamar and you being a student. It’s almost like we’re friends. Because a friend listens.

The world is before you and you need not take it or leave it as it was when you came in.

All knowledge which ends in words will die as quickly as it came to life, with the exception of the written word: which is its mechanical part.

I’m drawn to bad romances.

The genesis of a poem for me is usually a cluster of words. The only good metaphor I can think of is a scientific one: dipping a thread into a supersaturated solution to induce crystal formation. I don’t think I solve problems in my poetry; I think I uncover the problems.

House guests should be regarded as perishables: Leave them out too long and they go bad.

New roads; new ruts.

Where thou art, that is home.

It’s fun to be hopelessly in love. It’s dangerous, but it’s fun.

If I could explain it to the average person, it wouldn’t have been worth the Nobel Prize.

When you face a ‚performance‘ that might provoke the ‚I’m scared‘ response, choose love and approach your opportunity as a chance to dance with God. It’s more fun than ‚Dancing with the Stars!‘

Love to everybody who is out there progressing and taking things to the next level.

I love my daddy. My daddy’s everything. I hope I can find a man that will treat me as good as my dad.

I never thought I’d have children; I never thought I’d be in love, I never thought I’d meet the right person. Having come from a broken home – you kind of accept that certain things feel like a fairy tale, and you just don’t look for them.

A letdown is worth a few songs. A heartbreak is worth a few albums.

I make friends faster and easier than journalists.

I think one of the basic reasons men make good friends is that they can make up their minds quickly.

Nothing is unchangeable but the inherent and unalienable rights of man.

The American public’s a lot more sophisticated than we all give them credit for. And on complicated issues, I’m going to give them straight answers. And if it takes more than three minutes, I’m going to do it.

He who does not trust enough, Will not be trusted.

If you want to sacrifice the admiration of many men for the criticism of one, go ahead, get married.

Silence is argument carried out by other means.

A friend in power is a friend lost.

May we so love as never to have occasion to repent of our love!

My life is a struggle.

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

Love is an adventure and a conquest. It survives and develops, like the universe itself, only by perpetual discovery.

My parents shared not only an improbable love, they shared an abiding faith in the possibilities of this nation. They would give me an African name, Barack, or blessed, believing that in a tolerant America your name is no barrier to success.

It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.

Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.

Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose.

There is, hidden or flaunted, a sword between the sexes till an entire marriage reconciles them.

Change in all things is sweet.

I struggled with being a broke college graduate, and while all my friends were getting career jobs, I was working horrible part-time jobs. That’s why now, even when I get tired, I think, ‚This is what I asked for.‘

But behavior in the human being is sometimes a defense, a way of concealing motives and thoughts, as language can be a way of hiding your thoughts and preventing communication.

When I get married, it’ll be no secret.

If the Great Way perishes there will morality and duty. When cleverness and knowledge arise great lies will flourish. When relatives fall out with one another there will be filial duty and love. When states are in confusion there will be faithful servants.

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.

As selfishness and complaint pervert the mind, so love with its joy clears and sharpens the vision.

Patience is key for getting over a breakup. That, and trailing off your interaction after the breakup.

Goals allow you to control the direction of change in your favor.

Our lifelong certainties about the world can be demolished in a single second.

If one does not understand a person, one tends to regard him as a fool.

Stage actors are usually much more conscious of speaking up and making sure that everyone can hear in the back of the theatre; a film actor probably thinks of that a little less.

Happiness is a hard master, particularly other people’s happiness.

Each day we understand better what the Indians say, and they us, so that very often we are intelligible to each other.

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

My family is very good about visiting me, and other friends as well.

I mean… in life… what relationship is easy?

The issues a president faces are not black and white, and cannot be boiled down into 140 characters. Because when you have the nuclear codes at your fingertips and the military at your command, you can’t make snap decisions. You can’t have a thin skin or the tendency to lash out.

I don’t want to get into it, but if you know someone, it doesn’t mean you agree with everything they say or they do.

Counsel with your parents is a privilege at any age.

God proved His love on the Cross. When Christ hung, and bled, and died, it was God saying to the world, ‚I love you.‘