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.

Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content.

He that cannot reason is a fool. He that will not is a bigot. He that dare not is a slave.

Almost every man wastes part of his life attempting to display qualities which he does not possess.

Life loves the liver of it.

If you’re not very clever you should be conciliatory.

My inspiration is R. Kelly, Michael Jackson, and Prince – for the vocals, anyway.

I didn’t have nothin‘ going for me… school, home… until I found something I loved, which was music, and that changed everything.

I’m really trying to dredge up what one might call intellectual and moral material. For example, when do you realize that you are an American? What age does that happen to you? When do you realize what religion your parents practice? When does it all become conscious? I was interested in exploring all of that.

Malcolm X was the first political person in this country that I really identified with. If he had lived and not been purged, I probably would have joined the Muslims.

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.

Forward, as occasion offers. Never look round to see whether any shall note it… Be satisfied with success in even the smallest matter, and think that even such a result is no trifle.

Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.

To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.

I always seem to get inspiration and renewed vitality by contact with this great novel land of yours which sticks up out of the Atlantic.

Around every corner, always protect the engine that powers you.

Don’t work for recognition, but do work worthy of recognition.

You may be always victorious if you will never enter into any contest where the issue does not wholly depend upon yourself.

It is in self-limitation that a master first shows himself.

If you make listening and observation your occupation you will gain much more than you can by talk.

I think New York has evolved in my work just the way the city has.

I think my vice would be outdoing myself.

Well, I don’t think there’s any need for people to focus on my career.

The Bible says to ‚fear not,‘ but this doesn’t mean you should never feel scared. It means when you do feel fear, keep going forward and do what you are supposed to do. Or as I like to say, do it afraid.

When Hillary was First Lady, we went to the Beijing Women’s Conference. She courageously stood up and spoke out on behalf of human rights and women’s rights, inspiring millions to fight for a better future.

The best workers, like the happiest livers, look upon their work as a kind of game: the harder they play the more enjoyable it becomes.

Truly it is an evil to be full of faults; but it is a still greater evil to be full of them and to be unwilling to recognize them, since that is to add the further fault of a voluntary illusion.

I know a lot of athletes and models are written off as just bodies. I never felt used for my body.

It is better to be the hammer than the anvil.

I owe everything to Nirvana. But I can’t let that overshadow the future. For the first few years, I didn’t even want to talk about Nirvana. Partly because it was just painful to talk about losing Kurt but also because I wanted the Foo Fighters to mean something.

That feeling is so intoxicating, walking off the court holding the Larry O’Brien trophy. So I just want to do that again.

With me poetry has not been a purpose, but a passion.

One thing that writers have in common is that they are readers first. They have read lots and lots of stuff, because they’re just infested with lots of stuff.

It’s like a jar of salad dressing sitting on a shelf… most of the seasoning settles to the bottom of the bottle. But when you shake that bottle up, all the ingredients mix together and then the dressing can add flavor to a salad. In the same way, we can stir ourselves up and regain the reverence, respect and awe we once had for the Lord.

We never fail when we try to do our duty, we always fail when we neglect to do it.

I never wanted to be the next Bruce Lee. I just wanted to be the first Jackie Chan.

Above anything else, I hate to lose.

Find people who will make you better.

Sometimes if you got a problem deep rooted in your life, it takes a little bit of time to overcome it in that area.

I’ve learned that men and women who are living wholehearted lives really allow themselves to soften into joy and happiness. They allow themselves to experience it.

I don’t have any oratory skills. But I would not use them if I had.

If you want to cut your own throat, don’t come to me for a bandage.

I’m like a recovering perfectionist. For me it’s one day at a time.

For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.

I grew up where, when a door closed, a window didn’t open. The only thing I had was cracks. I’d do everything to get through those cracks – scratch, claw, bite, push, bleed. Now the opportunity is here. The door is wide open, and it’s as big as a garage.

Never confuse motion with action.

You not supposed to feel down over whatever happen to you. I mean, you’re supposed to use whatever happen to you as some type of upper, not a downer.

To reform a world, to reform a nation, no wise man will undertake; and all but foolish men know, that the only solid, though a far slower reformation, is what each begins and perfects on himself.

Every bit of me is devoted to love and art. And I aspire to try to be a teacher to my young fans who feel just like I felt when I was younger. I just felt like a freak. I guess what I’m trying to say is I’m trying to liberate them, I want to free them of their fears and make them feel that they can make their own space in the world.

Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.

Thomas Jefferson once said, ‚We should never judge a president by his age, only by his works.‘ And ever since he told me that, I stopped worrying.

A man is but the product of his thoughts, what he thinks he becomes.

Let’s be very clear: Strong men – men who are truly role models – don’t need to put down women to make themselves feel powerful. People who are truly strong lift others up. People who are truly powerful bring others together.

You are the sum total of everything you’ve ever seen, heard, eaten, smelled, been told, forgot – it’s all there. Everything influences each of us, and because of that I try to make sure that my experiences are positive.

We talk about this concept of openness and transparency as the high-level ideal that we’re moving towards at Facebook. The way that we get there is by empowering people to share and connect. The combination of those two things leads the world to become more open.

We can do anything we want to if we stick to it long enough.

Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.

You can write a song about being in love with someone, but you don’t have to be in love with anyone.

Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings.

I had nothing growing up, but I always wanted to be ‚sexy,‘ even before I knew what the word was.

Most people dream a dream when they are asleep. But to be a writer, you have to dream while you are awake, intentionally. So I get up early in the morning, 4 o’clock, and I sit at my desk and what I do is just dream. After three or four hours, that’s enough. In the afternoon, I run. The next day, the dream will continue.