Sexuality is one of the ways that we become enlightened, actually, because it leads us to self-knowledge.

Follow your honest convictions and be strong.

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

I liked his ability to deal with a lot of the negativity that surrounded him. Even though he was in a world that he didn’t want to be in, he still saw the bigger picture.

I’ve done many ads because that’s my new career. It’s an inspiring extension for my mind.

Single life is so overrated.

I walk tall; I got a tall attitude.

Whenever I’m around some who is modest, I think, ‚Run like hell and all of fire.‘ You don’t want modesty, you want humility.

I always knew from that moment, from the time I found myself at home in that little segregated library in the South, all the way up until I walked up the steps of the New York City library, I always felt, in any town, if I can get to a library, I’ll be OK. It really helped me as a child, and that never left me.

I just have always felt that people don’t change, circumstances change.

If you have fear, you are bound by tradition, you follow some leader or guru. When you are bound by tradition, when you are afraid of your husband or your wife, you lose your dignity as an individual human being.

I am not the first Buddha who came upon Earth, nor shall I be the last. In due time, another Buddha will arise in the world – a Holy One, a supremely enlightened One, endowed with wisdom in conduct, auspicious, knowing the universe, an incomparable leader of men, a master of angels and mortals.

I don’t mind people hating me, because it pushes me.

Do not weep; do not wax indignant. Understand.

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’m just like you – I want to be a good human being. I’m doing my best, and I’m working at it. And I’m trying to be a Christian. I’m always amazed when people walk up to me and say, ‚I’m a Christian.‘ I always think, ‚Already? You’ve already got it?‘ I’m working at it. And at my age, I’ll still be working at it at 96.

There’s only one effectively redemptive sacrifice, the sacrifice of self-will to make room for the knowledge of God.

Men take only their needs into consideration – never their abilities.

The ideal man bears the accidents of life with dignity and grace, making the best of circumstances.

I put my flaws on front street. So the world accepted my flaws, so I don’t have any flaws.

We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.

Deficiency motivation doesn’t work. It will lead to a life-long pursuit of try to fix me. Learn to appreciate what you have and where and who you are.

Sex is a part of nature. I go along with nature.

What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.

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

Whenever I write a novel, I have a strong sense that I am doing something I was unable to do before. With each new work, I move up a step and discover something new inside me.

The final proof of greatness lies in being able to endure criticism without resentment.

By taking responsibility for how you choose to respond to anything or anyone, you’re aligning yourself with the beautiful dance of life.

Remember you are just an extra in everyone else’s play.

I’m not generally a sensitive person, but I tend to be more sensitive toward others and what they’re going through. I don’t know if that’s the healthiest thing, but it’s the truth.

To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to.

If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.

If what you did yesterday seems big, you haven’t done anything today.

Get up tomorrow early in the morning, and earlier than you did today, and do the best that you can. Always stay near me, for tomorrow I will have much to do and more than I ever had, and tomorrow blood will leave my body above the breast.

Our necessities never equal our wants.

One of the most important decisions you’ll ever make is choosing the kind of universe you exist in: is it helpful and supportive or hostile and unsupportive? Your answer to this question will make all the difference in terms of how you live your life and what kind of Divine assistance you attract.

We do not know what we want and yet we are responsible for what we are – that is the fact.

The only things worth learning are the things you learn after you know it all.

What I am looking for is not out there, it is in me.

I love California, I practically grew up in Phoenix.

I woke up one day and thought: ‚I want to write a book about the history of my body.‘ I could justify talking about my mother because it was in her body that my body began.

I write songs about stuff that I can’t really get past personally – and then I write a song about it and I feel better.

An employer of mine back in the ’80s was kind enough to take me on after a rough patch, and it made a big difference in my life that I knew I was the sort of person who showed up on time. It’s a basic tell of character.

I never saw myself as a folk singer.

Although the circumstances of our lives may seem very disengaged, with me standing here as the First Lady of the United States of America and you just getting through school, I want you to know we have very much in common. For nothing in my life ever would have predicted that I would be standing here as the first African-American First Lady.

This is certain, that a man that studieth revenge keeps his wounds green, which otherwise would heal and do well.

There is nothing happens to any person but what was in his power to go through with.

I was raised to be independent.

The devil is a peace stealer, and he works hard to set us up to get upset. But we can learn how to change our approach so we don’t live upset all of the time. And Jesus gives us the best example to follow.

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

You have to like the present; if not your life becomes secondhand, if you think it was better before. Or that it will be better in the future.

As long as a man stands in his own way, everything seems to be in his way.

Some people carry their heart in their head and some carry their head in their heart. The trick is to keep them apart yet working together.

The limits of the possible can only be defined by going beyond them into the impossible.

Your most important work is always ahead of you, never behind you.

In general, pride is at the bottom of all great mistakes.

We grow older, but we do not change. We become more sophisticated, but at bottom we continue to resemble our young selves, eager to listen to the next story and the next, and the next.

I’m sure the feeling of fear, as long as you can take advantage of it and not be rendered useless by it, can make you extend yourself beyond what you would regard as your capacity. If you’re afraid, the blood seems to flow freely through the veins, and you really do feel a sense of stimulation.

Pray that success will not come any faster than you are able to endure it.

When I was 8 years old I became a mute and was a mute until I was 13, and I thought of my whole body as an ear, so I can go into a crowd and sit still and absorb all sound. That talent or ability has lasted and served me until today.

If we’re really honest with ourselves, most of us will admit that we want to impress people, and this is what’s causing us to do what we do.