Playing Etta James in the movie ‚Cadillac Records‘ really changed me. It was a darker character, and I realized that if anything is too comfortable, I want to run from it. It’s no fun being safe.

If it’s going to come out eventually, better have it come out immediately.

Nobody can give you wiser advice than yourself.

There’s not some idea I’m going to create a work that’s going to change everybody’s consciousness.

The fame thing is interesting because I never wanted to be famous, and I never dreamt I would be famous.

The more a person seeks security, the more that person gives up control over their life.

Our will is always for our own good, but we do not always see what that is.

It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.

If you’re serious, you really understand that it’s important that you laugh as much as possible and admit that you’re the funniest person you ever met. You have to laugh. Admit that you’re funny. Otherwise, you die in solemnity.

Life cannot be without relationship, but we have made it so agonizing and hideous by basing it on personal and possessive love. Can one love and yet not possess? You will find the true answer not in escape, ideals, beliefs but through the understanding of the causes of dependence and possessiveness.

I put a lot of pressure on myself. I think something’s not good enough, and I won’t stop until I feel like I’ve made it. I’m never satisfied.

Concentration is one of the happiest things in my life.

I want to solidify as an artist and show that as I grow as a person and make mistakes and learn from them, I’m going to grow artistically.

I didn’t think it was special to be able to sing.

I don’t want to be alone, I want to be left alone.

My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, apparently unachievable challenges and trying to rise above them.

I feel like people can relate to me because we all go through wins and roadblocks and passion and pain, and it’s a vibe.

One travels more usefully when alone, because he reflects more.

A woman has the age she deserves.

Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit.

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.

You have to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather was.

The young think that failure is the Siberian end of the line, banishment from all the living, and tend to do what I then did – which was to hide.

I will not be concerned at other men’s not knowing me; I will be concerned at my own want of ability.

My parents were dealing with evictions and repossessions and electricity getting shut off, and I just realized that I had to get it together.

When we see persons of worth, we should think of equaling them; when we see persons of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves.

Do not look for approval except for the consciousness of doing your best.

You cannot hope to sweep someone else away by the force of your writing until it has been done to you.

Nothing on ‚Relapse‘ and very little on ‚Recovery‘ was produced by me.

I try to teach my heart not to want things it can’t have.

There is but one cause of human failure. And that is man’s lack of faith in his true Self.

People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built.

You don’t look out there for God, something in the sky, you look in you.

If I wouldn’t have found Courtney, I probably would have carried on with a bisexual lifestyle.

In my case Pilgrim’s Progress consisted in my having to climb down a thousand ladders until I could reach out my hand to the little clod of earth that I am.

I hope not to define myself by suffering.

Life becomes harder for us when we live for others, but it also becomes richer and happier.

Even as you make progress, you need the discipline to keep from backtracking and sabotaging the success as it’s happening.

If you are against yourself, you will never reach your highest potential. And when you criticize yourself, you’re criticizing God.

Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others.

I don’t do things for the response or for the controversy. I just live my life.

I brought myself down. I impeached myself by resigning.

Instead of blaming everyone and everything else for your problems, pray for God to help you take an inventory of what’s been on your mind so you can think about what you’ve been thinking about.

Many people, especially young people, would like to be more independent and on their own. But it is very difficult and they suffer from feelings of isolation. I think that is one reason why young readers support my work.

We become what we repeatedly do.

For me, the world that I inhabit in reality is probably a very different world than the one people expect that I would be in.

Life’s too short to deal with other people’s insecurities.

Life is not accumulation, it is about contribution.

I don’t have emotional needs, only physical ones.

I think it’s a very good thing to leave your country and look at it from afar.

We know what we are, but know not what we may be.

I don’t have a problem with ageing – in fact, I embrace that aspect of it. And am able to and obviously am going to be able to quite easily… it doesn’t faze me at all.

Face your fears and doubts, and new worlds will open to you.

All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me… You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.

I think what’s important is for us to decipher what is honest and what is dishonest and be accepting of those things and not operating from fear.

Without forgiveness, there’s no future.

I love my friends and my past, and it’s made me who I am.

If you desire to be good, begin by believing that you are wicked.

What’s the greater risk? Letting go of what people think – or letting go of how I feel, what I believe, and who I am?

I don’t have the best track record with quotes.

As we advance in life it becomes more and more difficult, but in fighting the difficulties the inmost strength of the heart is developed.