The writer must believe that what he is doing is the most important thing in the world. And he must hold to this illusion even when he knows it is not true.

There are a thousand thoughts lying within a man that he does not know till he takes up a pen to write.

There is no comparison between that which is lost by not succeeding and that which is lost by not trying.

The healthiest competition occurs when average people win by putting above average effort.

There is no hope of anyone going to Heaven unless they believe this truth I am presenting. You cannot go to Heaven unless you believe with all your heart that Jesus took your place in Hell.

The mind is the limit. As long as the mind can envision the fact that you can do something, you can do it, as long as you really believe 100 percent.

Propaganda is amazing. People can be led to believe anything.

The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.

Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.

When I write, I write about my surroundings. Sometimes it’s light, and sometimes it gets very dark.

I never worry about action, but only inaction.

Get busy living, or get busy dying.

I believe in a passion for inclusion.

Act enthusiastic and you will be enthusiastic.

People like to blame others. I think a person should just look at their own situation, look around them, find out what they wish to do, and seek and go and do that. And that’s it.

As long as I’m learning something, I figure I’m OK – it’s a decent day.

I find the whole business of religion profoundly interesting. But it does mystify me that otherwise intelligent people take it seriously.

I just have an enthusiasm for life.

We should never lose an occasion. Opportunity is more powerful even than conquerors and prophets.

Starting your own business isn’t just a job – it’s a way of life.

Life is a journey. When we stop, things don’t go right.

No sooner said than done – so acts your man of worth.

Things may not be immediately discernible in what a man writes, and in this sometimes he is fortunate; but eventually they are quite clear, and by these and the degree of alchemy that he possesses, he will endure or be forgotten.

I’ve always believed that success for anyone is all about drive, dedication, and desire, but for me, it’s also been about confidence and faith.

Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.

Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.

What really matters is how God sees me. He isn’t concerned with labels; he is concerned about the state of man’s soul.

Do something wonderful, people may imitate it.

I think the family movie is very important to everybody right now.

All my life affection has been showered upon me, and every forward step I have made has been taken in spite of it.

What this power is I cannot say; all I know is that it exists and it becomes available only when a man is in that state of mind in which he knows exactly what he wants and is fully determined not to quit until he finds it.

How oft the sight of means to do ill deeds makes ill deeds done!

I have tried for much of my life to write as if I was composing my sentences to be read posthumously.

The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been.

I didn’t want to be a writer, but I became one. And now I have many readers, in many countries. I think that’s a miracle. So I think I have to be humble regarding this ability. I’m proud of it and I enjoy it, and it is strange to say it this way, but I respect it.

So many objections may be made to everything, that nothing can overcome them but the necessity of doing something.

Everything’s fine today, that is our illusion.

You must capture and keep the heart of the original and supremely able man before his brain can do its best.

I firmly believe that unless one has tasted the bitter pill of failure, one cannot aspire enough for success.

One great use of words is to hide our thoughts.

Whatever the reviewers feel about ‚The Casual Vacancy‘, it is what I wanted it to be, and you can’t say fairer than that as a writer.

Base souls have no faith in great individuals.

Today is life-the only life you are sure of. Make the most of today. Get interested in something. Shake yourself awake. Develop a hobby. Let the winds of enthusiasm sweep through you. Live today with gusto.

If anyone remembers me, it’s about my hard work.

I don’t know how many good books I still have in me; I hope there are another four or five.

A person will sometimes devote all his life to the development of one part of his body – the wishbone.

It’s an awful feeling to write something that you feel is really important… and to feel that you’re being published by people who really don’t get it and/or don’t really care.

The child who desires education will be bettered by it; the child who dislikes it disgraced.

Writing free verse is like playing tennis with the net down.

I’ve been blessed to be somebody that’s been climbing that success mountain top for years of hard work, you know, but now it’s all connecting. And now, the whole world is watching, you know what I’m saying, and it feels good ‚cause it’s good energy. This is all positive vibes, and good vibes and good energy, so it feels incredible.

An artist or a creative person of any kind goes about their work because it’s their path, it’s what excites them, it’s what aligns their soul with who they truly are, who they showed up to be.

Extreme hopes are born from extreme misery.

To have done anything just for money is to have been truly idle.

To hold a pen is to be at war.

Infinite striving to be the best is man’s duty; it is its own reward. Everything else is in God’s hands.

Almost any biographer, if he respects facts, can give us much more than another fact to add to our collection. He can give us the creative fact; the fertile fact; the fact that suggests and engenders.

When everything works best, it’s not because you chose writing but because writing chose you. It’s when you’re mad with it, it’s when it’s stuffed in your ears, your nostrils, under your fingernails. It’s when there’s no hope but that.

I have nowhere claimed nor even implied that unbelief is a guarantee of good conduct or even an indicator of it.

We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aid, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn.

Real courage is when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.

I say something, and then it usually happens. Maybe not on schedule, but it usually happens.