Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted.

I had a period in my life where I decided that I would never be bored again and that, if I had any free time at all, I would make plans, and I would always be doing things. It actually was great for a year or so, but then I lost all of my friends.

Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks.

To write it, it took three months; to conceive it three minutes; to collect the data in it all my life.

I guess I’m just inspired to tell stories.

For my career, I wouldn’t go racing if I didn’t enjoy it. I still need to have my say, and not just get put with a team and get told to deal with it.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.

In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.

It is a fact often observed, that men have written good verses under the inspiration of passion, who cannot write well under other circumstances.

No one in this world, so far as I know – and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me – has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people.

Maybe some people can wake up and play PlayStation all day, but that’s never been me.

If you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success.

The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.

Learn to say ‚no‘ to the good so you can say ‚yes‘ to the best.

The great fun in my life has been getting up every morning and rushing to the typewriter because some new idea has hit me.

Plunge boldly into the thick of life, and seize it where you will, it is always interesting.

‚Tis education forms the common mind; just as the twig is bent the tree’s inclined.

Today, I’d like to talk to Bob Marley. I’d just like to ask him what was his method. Bob is one of the greatest songwriters ever. I don’t know if people understand how powerful his songs are and the simplicity and genius behind them, from ‚Redemption Song‘ to ‚Is This Love?‘ and ‚I Shot the Sheriff.‘

Living big and joyful and content is almost always the result of our finding satisfaction in life’s ordinary day-to-day pleasures. And God must be fond of them, too, for He made so many of them for us to enjoy.

Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.

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.

I don’t have time to be lonely. And I get fearful of relationships because I feel guilty about wanting someone to be completely faithful and loyal, when I can’t even give them 10 percent of the attention that they need. It’s just the reality of my time, my life, my schedule.

I don’t go to bed at 1 A.M. and wake up at 5 A.M. and say, ‚Let’s see if I can get this done today.‘

Read the Bible. Work hard and honestly. And don’t complain.

When one has a great deal to put into it a day has a hundred pockets.

Do what nobody else can do for you. Omit to do anything else.

Not what we have But what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance.

Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals.

You may not always have a comfortable life and you will not always be able to solve all of the world’s problems at once but don’t ever underestimate the importance you can have because history has shown us that courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own.

If you are going to write, say, fantasy – stop reading fantasy. You’ve already read too much. Read other things; read westerns, read history, read anything that seems interesting, because if you only read fantasy and then you start to write fantasy, all you’re going to do is recycle the same old stuff and move it around a bit.

People are so caught in a routine, doing the same things over and over.

A good thing to remember is somebody’s got it a lot worse than we do.

The average person puts only 25% of his energy and ability into his work. The world takes off its hat to those who put in more than 50% of their capacity, and stands on its head for those few and far between souls who devote 100%.

We have art in order not to die of the truth.

I only type every third night. I have no plan. My mind is a blank. I sit down. The typewriter gives me things I don’t even know I’m working on. It’s a free lunch. A free dinner. I don’t know how long it is going to continue, but so far there is nothing easier than writing.

Innovation can only occur where you can breathe free.

Let your Discourse with Men of Business be Short and Comprehensive.

My entire childhood was steeped in poverty. For me, poverty, in a way, was the first inspiration of my life, a commitment to do something for the poor.

Have fun in your command. Don’t always run at a breakneck pace. Take leave when you’ve earned it, spend time with your families.

Man is only great when he acts from passion.

There are dark shadows on the earth, but its lights are stronger in the contrast.

Not having hope is not an excuse for not doing something.

A fortunate author can write maybe twelve novels in his lifetime.

There is spontaneity to my work.

The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.

That summer after the draft was probably the most fun I’ve ever had, because all I had to do every day was wake up and go work out for four or five hours. I got to play some golf, which I love to do, too, and then got to hang out with my family.

Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.

Execute every act of thy life as though it were thy last.

Bill Gates has always been a mentor and inspiration for me even before I knew him. Just growing up, I admired how Microsoft was mission-focused.

Do Lipton employees take coffee breaks?

You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.

A man can take a little bourbon without getting drunk, but if you hold his mouth open and pour in a quart, he’s going to get sick on it.

While we are postponing, life speeds by.

I’m very much into making lists and breaking things apart into categories.

The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.

There is no private house in which people can enjoy themselves so well as at a capital tavern… No, Sir; there is nothing which has yet been contrived by man by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern or inn.

Actions are the seed of fate deeds grow into destiny.

I myself would like to become more disciplined within my work.

If you love something – and there are things that I love – you do want more and more and more of it, but that’s not the way to produce good work.

About half my time is spent on business operation type stuff.

Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.