The greatest of faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none.

No man was ever great by imitation.

A man can do only what he can do. But if he does that each day he can sleep at night and do it again the next day.

You can do what you have to do, and sometimes you can do it even better than you think you can.

I don’t think I’m bad for people. If I did think I was bad for people, I would go back to driving a truck, and I really mean this.

We are the most amazing creatures that this world has ever produced, but we seem to also have this herd mentality; we seem to be the most stupid, also.

The only thing is, people have to develop courage. It is most important of all the virtues. Because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtues consistently.

Intense feeling too often obscures the truth.

The proper study of Man is anything but Man; and the most improper job of any man, even saints (who at any rate were at least unwilling to take it on), is bossing other men. Not one in a million is fit for it, and least of all those who seek the opportunity.

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.

True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing.

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.

My lectures, based on Islamic teachings, were on various subjects. Some of the titles were, ‚The Intoxication of Life,‘ ‚The Purpose of Life,‘ ‚The Real Cause of Man’s Distress,‘ ‚The Journey to the Goal in Life,‘ and, one of my favorites, ‚The Heart of Man.‘ They contained important insights that spoke to something deep inside me.

I hate what I look like on TV, and I want to look better, and nothing makes the mothers more jealous.

Become aware of your own insufficiency.

Success makes so many people hate you. I wish it wasn’t that way. It would be wonderful to enjoy success without seeing envy in the eyes of those around you.

When there’s so much left to do, why spend your time focusing on things you’ve already done, counting trophies or telling stories about the good old days?

There is no waste of time in life like that of making explanations.

Never take anything for granted.

Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success.

I find with most of my readers are kind of like me, sort of people who were a little bit naive in life and then learned the hard way that this is what’s going on, the political games and most of my readers write to me telling me that the book helped them open their eyes to what other people are doing to them.

Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.

Either you think, or else others have to think for you and take power from you, pervert and discipline your natural tastes, civilize and sterilize you.

Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching.

He who praises everybody, praises nobody.

Success or failure depends more upon attitude than upon capacity successful men act as though they have accomplished or are enjoying something. Soon it becomes a reality. Act, look, feel successful, conduct yourself accordingly, and you will be amazed at the positive results.

Our necessities never equal our wants.

I’m reflective only in the sense that I learn to move forward. I reflect with a purpose.

I’m not claiming divinity. I’ve never claimed purity of soul. I’ve never claimed to have the answers to life. I only put out songs and answer questions as honestly as I can… But I still believe in peace, love and understanding.

The secret of happiness is this: let your interests be as wide as possible, and let your reactions to the things and persons that interest you be as far as possible friendly rather than hostile.

I guess I’m living in the present more than the past.

Our mind is capable of passing beyond the dividing line we have drawn for it. Beyond the pairs of opposites of which the world consists, other, new insights begin.

I had never been in charge of anything. I’d always worked for someone. I worked for a furniture warehouse. I did masonry. I always had a boss yelling at me. So I’d never been in charge of an organization.

The formation of one’s character ought to be everyone’s chief aim.

If a man does his best, what else is there?

No change of circumstances can repair a defect of character.

The final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands.

I’ve learned over the years that when I go to that place of passion within me, there’s no force in the universe that can interfere with my completing a project.

There are some cases in which the sense of injury breeds not the will to inflict injuries and climb over them as a ladder, but a hatred of all injury.

I don’t crave applause. I’m not one of those guys who comes alive on stage. I’m much more alive at home, I think.

I have never been able to renounce the light, the pleasure of being, and the freedom in which I grew up.

The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.

I was in a terrible mess in my childhood.

When I was growing up, there was nobody in my family – not even my mother – who I could look to and be like, ‚I know you’ve never said anything homophobic.‘ So, you know, you worry about people in the business who you’ve heard talk that way. Some of my heroes coming up talk recklessly like that.

When you look at the sun during your walking meditation, the mindfulness of the body helps you to see that the sun is in you; without the sun there is no life at all and suddenly you get in touch with the sun in a different way.

The difference between us and them, between you and success, is not that you never fail, but it’s how you recover from those failures – is that you keep getting up time and time again. You figure out what you did wrong, and then you make it right. I say that to my kids every day.

The major reason for setting a goal is for what it makes of you to accomplish it. What it makes of you will always be the far greater value than what you get.

We all have possibilities we don’t know about. We can do things we don’t even dream we can do.

Little things affect little minds.

Whatever you are, be a good one.

I deeply regret any harm, or any perceived harm, that I may have done to anyone by any behaviour of mine.

We learn martial arts as helping weakness. You never fight for people to get hurt. You’re always helping people.

There are no second acts in American lives.

I don’t see myself in terms of artifice. I see myself as a real person who chooses to live my life in an open way – artistically.

The same thing I did in 2013 is what I’m trying to do in 2014, which is continue to improve, continue to shock people. You know, I have several projects coming up between 2014 and 2015, and hopefully by 2015, I’ll have another hour of stand-up material where I’ll be able to go on the road and tour again.

You might not have the things you want, but if you check carefully, you got all you need.

He who angers you conquers you.

There’s not a note of mine that’s worth the noting.

If you’re always under the pressure of real identity, I think that is somewhat of a burden.

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.

A man can’t be too careful in the choice of his enemies.