Subdue your appetites, my dears, and you’ve conquered human nature.

Our lives are a sum total of the choices we have made.

Slavery is founded in the selfishness of man’s nature – opposition to it is his love of justice. These principles are an eternal antagonism; and when brought into collision so fiercely, as slavery extension brings them, shocks and throes and convulsions must ceaselessly follow.

Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances.

There are old heads in the world who cannot help me by their example or advice to live worthily and satisfactorily to myself; but I believe that it is in my power to elevate myself this very hour above the common level of my life.

In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.

Sometimes, it’s just easier to say yes to that extra snack or dessert, because frankly, it is exhausting to keep saying no. It’s exhausting to plead with our kids to eat just one more bite of vegetables.

So far is it from being true that men are naturally equal, that no two people can be half an hour together, but one shall acquire an evident superiority over the other.

The simple act of paying attention can take you a long way.

Really I don’t like human nature unless all candied over with art.

Only you can control your future.

Loyalty to petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul.

Wisdom does not show itself so much in precept as in life – in firmness of mind and a mastery of appetite. It teaches us to do as well as to talk; and to make our words and actions all of a color.

Don’t let schooling interfere with your education.

The prospect of dating someone in her twenties becomes less appealing as you get older. At some point in your life, your tolerance level goes down and you realize that, with someone much younger, there’s nothing really to talk about.

I’m ugly.

A lot of people are afraid to tell the truth, to say no. That’s where toughness comes into play. Toughness is not being a bully. It’s having backbone.

Oh the nerves, the nerves; the mysteries of this machine called man! Oh the little that unhinges it, poor creatures that we are!

Changing your mind is probably one of the most beautiful things people can do. And I’ve changed my mind about a lot of things over the years.

I doubt whether classical education ever has been or can be successfully carried out without corporal punishment.

Time is kind of an amazing thing because you can do so much with it. I think people underestimate time… I don’t want to just sit on my phone for hours.

Anything I do, I want to do it well.

My upbringing was solid because of the people I had around me.

It is a common enough case, that of a man being suddenly captivated by a woman nearly the opposite of his ideal.

It is a true rule that love is ever rewarded, either with the reciproque or with an inward and secret contempt.

An elusive, enigmatic aura will make people want to know more, drawing them into your circle. Create such a power by hinting at something contradictory within you.

We all need people who will give us feedback. That’s how we improve.

A man’s worth is no greater than his ambitions.

I don’t know that my schooling was conducive to wild ideas and creativity, but it gave me discipline, drive. They taught me how to think. I really know how to think.

Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them.

Purity of personal life is the one indispensable condition for building up a sound education.

War grows out of the desire of the individual to gain advantage at the expense of his fellow man.

Get off your butt and join the Marines!

Let him that would move the world first move himself.

Read a record number of books in a given month. If you’re focused on intellectual growth, train yourself to study harder and longer than ever before.

The healthy man does not torture others – generally it is the tortured who turn into torturers.

Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change.

Behavior is what a man does, not what he thinks, feels, or believes.

Everybody has a creative potential and from the moment you can express this creative potential, you can start changing the world.

The person we believe ourselves to be will always act in a manner consistent with our self-image.

We can improve our relationships with others by leaps and bounds if we become encouragers instead of critics.

Circumstances are beyond human control, but our conduct is in our own power.

In the last analysis, even the best man is evil: in the last analysis, even the best woman is bad.

There is a certain enthusiasm in liberty, that makes human nature rise above itself, in acts of bravery and heroism.

Ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to be in combat.

Pessimists are the people who have no hope for themselves or for others. Pessimists are also people who think the human race is beneath their notice, that they’re better than other human beings.

One’s past is what one is. It is the only way by which people should be judged.

Of mankind we may say in general they are fickle, hypocritical, and greedy of gain.

Let no one be slow to seek wisdom when he is young nor weary in the search of it when he has grown old. For no age is too early or too late for the health of the soul.

Intelligent people should learn from their experiences. With people on the street, the bad experience has beaten them.

Do not let circumstances control you. You change your circumstances.

Each of us has a vision of good and of evil. We have to encourage people to move towards what they think is good… Everyone has his own idea of good and evil and must choose to follow the good and fight evil as he conceives them. That would be enough to make the world a better place.

The unsuccessful person is burdened by learning, and prefers to walk down familiar paths. Their distaste for learning stunts their growth and limits their influence.

With realization of one’s own potential and self-confidence in one’s ability, one can build a better world.

Once someone has spent enough time cultivating bad habits and biding their time, they are much diminished. Much of what they could have been has dissipated.

The strongest principle of growth lies in the human choice.

I think that people just have this core desire to express who they are. And I think that’s always existed.

I always had a repulsive need to be something more than human.

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.

Let each become all that he was created capable of being.

My justification is that most people my age spend a lot of time thinking about what they’re going to do for the next five or ten years. The time they spend thinking about their life, I just spend drinking.