There are slavish souls who carry their appreciation for favors done them so far that they strangle themselves with the rope of gratitude.

I don’t know if I’m selfless – I still want to make a great record. I want to make a hit record. I want to tour; that’s not completely selfless. But the truth is I’m not interested in people coming to my show for me as much as I am for them coming to my show for themselves. That’s always been how I am.

Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love.

Delhi means everything to me. This city has given me everything, and I love it.

The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.

Our brand of democracy is hard. But I can promise that a year from now, when I no longer hold this office, I’ll be right there with you as a citizen – inspired by those voices of fairness and vision, of grit and good humor and kindness that have helped America travel so far.

I always joke that my kids‘ favorite holiday is Father’s Day. They love the way I celebrate the occasion by writing each of them a thank-you letter and a generous check. It’s my way of letting them know how much I appreciate the great pleasure and privilege of being their dad.

Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness.

I’ve had no contact with my daughter for years. That’s her choice. Anyway, you move on. If people don’t want to bother with me, fine. You know, God bless them, and move on.

Not cohabitation but consensus constitutes marriage.

Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‚What are you doing for others?‘

You can become blind by seeing each day as a similar one. Each day is a different one, each day brings a miracle of its own. It’s just a matter of paying attention to this miracle.

If you have only one smile in you give it to the people you love.

Be thankful we’re not getting all the government we’re paying for.

When we turn to one another for counsel we reduce the number of our enemies.

I must be cruel, only to be kind.

One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.

Every day is a gift from God, no matter how old we are.

Gays are some of the nicest, kindest, most loving people in the world.

Wisdom I know is social. She seeks her fellows. But Beauty is jealous, and illy bears the presence of a rival.

Nothing that you have not given away will ever be really yours.

In the spring of 1936, I was introduced by friends to Jean Tatlock. In the autumn, I began to court her. We were at least twice close enough to marriage to think of ourselves as engaged.

Art! Who comprehends her? With whom can one consult concerning this great goddess?

All my stepchildren carried the burden of my fame. Sometimes they would read terrible things about me, and I’d worry about whether it would hurt them. I would tell them: ‚Don’t hide these things from me. I’d rather you ask me these things straight out, and I’ll answer all your questions.‘

It was wonderful to find America, but it would have been more wonderful to miss it.

Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not.

One hearty laugh together will bring enemies into a closer communion of heart than hours spent on both sides in inward wrestling with the mental demon of uncharitable feeling.

If you truly get in touch with a piece of carrot, you get in touch with the soil, the rain, the sunshine. You get in touch with Mother Earth and eating in such a way, you feel in touch with true life, your roots, and that is meditation. If we chew every morsel of our food in that way we become grateful and when you are grateful, you are happy.

Unless you love someone, nothing else makes any sense.

Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God’s handwriting.

I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.

Women don’t try to use me.

Love matches, so called, have illusion for their father and need for their mother.

As I get older, I tend to put more into family than I used to.

Here in America, we don’t let our differences tear us apart. Not here. Because we know that our greatness comes from when we appreciate each other’s strengths, when we learn from each other, when we lean on each other, because in this country, it’s never been each person for themselves. No, we’re all in this together. We always have been.

How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!

It is easy to get everything you want, provided you first learn to do without the things you cannot get.

Never elated when someone’s oppressed, never dejected when another one’s blessed.

We need to show mercy. I mean, because as much mercy as you show people, that’s the mercy you’re going to be receiving.

The more successful I become, the more I need a man.

Loving someone liberates the lover as well as the beloved. And that kind of love comes with age.

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

I try to live what I teach. A lot of things come against us in life, but we should try to find something to be grateful for, and see each day as a gift.

We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.

A friendship founded on business is better than a business founded on friendship.

Man does not control his own fate. The women in his life do that for him.

A friend in power is a friend lost.

When the people you love are gone, you’re alone.

I thank Marc Jacobs so much for giving me the opportunity to design a shoe for Louis Vuitton, but the thing that broke my heart most was when they said, ‚You’re finished. The shoe’s finished.‘

If thy brother wrongs thee, remember not so much his wrong-doing, but more than ever that he is thy brother.

To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug.

Quarrel? Nonsense; we have not quarreled. If one is not to get into a rage sometimes, what is the good of being friends?

You know, God has some really weird kids, and I find it hard to be in their company most of the time.

The man never feels the want of what it never occurs to him to ask for.

What is uttered from the heart alone, Will win the hearts of others to your own.

Social media has given us this idea that we should all have a posse of friends when in reality, if we have one or two really good friends, we are lucky.

Yes, Mother. I can see you are flawed. You have not hidden it. That is your greatest gift to me.

It’s a funny thing that when a man hasn’t anything on earth to worry about, he goes off and gets married.

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

The mind of a 19-year-old is very different from the mind of a 26-year-old. You grow. You get into better relationships. You experience more, meet more people, better people. But when you’re in a dark hole at an earlier point in your life – you write about the mindset you’re in at that moment.

My doorman is more important to me than any head of any company. He keeps us safe.