To me, my house is always recreating what I lost in youth.

Having a mind that is open to everything and attached to nothing seems to me to be one of the most basic principles that you can adopt to contribute to individual and world peace.

When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself.

Passion rebuilds the world for the youth. It makes all things alive and significant.

Every now and then I read a poem that does touch something in me, but I never turn to poetry for solace or pleasure in the way that I throw myself into prose.

If you’re losing your soul and you know it, then you’ve still got a soul left to lose.

Humble people ask for help.

I try to be the same person I was yesterday.

Doo-wop is special music to me because it’s so straightforward and melody-driven and captures emotions.

No untroubled day has ever dawned for me.

It is a man’s own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways.

Do the thing we fear, and death of fear is certain.

Until you have cultivated the habit of saying some kind word of those whom you do not admire, you will be neither successful nor happy.

In the child, consciousness rises out of the depths of unconscious psychic life, at first like separate islands, which gradually unite to form a ‚continent,‘ a continuous landmass of consciousness. Progressive mental development means, in effect, extension of consciousness.

What you are, you are by accident of birth; what I am, I am by myself. There are and will be a thousand princes; there is only one Beethoven.

Every one of my regrets has produced a song I’m proud of.

Your most important work is always ahead of you, never behind you.

I’d like to think you don’t stop being creative once you get happy.

I do believe in the old saying, ‚What does not kill you makes you stronger.‘ Our experiences, good and bad, make us who we are. By overcoming difficulties, we gain strength and maturity.

You don’t look out there for God, something in the sky, you look in you.

Key is never be afraid of being yourself. Never!

Do the thing you fear most and the death of fear is certain.

Now I realize that from ’72 through to about ’76, I was the ultimate rock star. I couldn’t have been more rock star.

At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.

It takes a great deal of character strength to apologize quickly out of one’s heart rather than out of pity. A person must possess himself and have a deep sense of security in fundamental principles and values in order to genuinely apologize.

You can never really live anyone else’s life, not even your child’s. The influence you exert is through your own life, and what you’ve become yourself.

A mother takes twenty years to make a man of her boy, and another woman makes a fool of him in twenty minutes.

While you’re saving your face, you’re losing your ass.

It is the failing of youth not to be able to restrain its own violence.

The fame thing is interesting because I never wanted to be famous, and I never dreamt I would be famous.

Your life will be a blessed and balanced experience if you first honor your identity and priority.

If a man does not make new acquaintances as he advances through life, he will soon find himself left alone. A man, sir, should keep his friendship in a constant repair.

My philosophy is it’s none of my business what people say of me and think of me. I am what I am, and I do what I do. I expect nothing and accept everything. And it makes life so much easier.

Good intentions never change anything. They only become a deeper and deeper rut.

I’ve arrived at the place if I’m not taking a career risk, I’m not happy. If I’m scared, then I know I’m being challenged.

In 7th grade, I believe, I wrote my first rap song. It was about everything I was seeing, everything that was going on around me.

I do not live on false promises. I cannot afford to live on bad advice.

It is our choices… that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.

I more fear what is within me than what comes from without.

So then, the relationship of self to other is the complete realization that loving yourself is impossible without loving everything defined as other than yourself.

I can imagine it’s hard to make a relationship last. I wouldn’t know.

I’m intimidated by the fear of being average.

Like all great travellers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen.

I was raised to be independent.

I’ve always believed in God. I also think that’s the sort of thing that either comes as part of the equipment, the capacity to believe, or at some point in your life, when you’re in a position where you actually need help from a power greater than yourself, you simply make an agreement.

Life’s too short to deal with other people’s insecurities.

The arrogance of age must submit to be taught by youth.

Why is it so hard for people to believe that white people are poor?! I wouldn’t say I lived in a ghetto; I’d say I lived in the ‚hood. The same friends I had back then are the same people on tour with me now.

The real truths of life are never entirely new to you or to anybody because there is a level deep down within you where you already know all the things, all those spiritual truths that you read or hear, and then recognize them. I say ‚recognize‘ because you’re not… it’s not new.

The dreams and passions stored within hearts are powerful keys which can unlock a wealth of potential.

I don’t think there’s anyone who would say they don’t want or need more of God’s power in their life.

The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows.

There’s nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child.

What nourishes me also destroys me.

I’m confident in who I am. I’ve come to a place in my life where I’ve accepted things that are me, as opposed to feeling pressure to explain myself to people around me. That’s just the way I’ve always tried to be. It didn’t change when I became a star.

The young are permanently in a state resembling intoxication.

If you dream the proper dreams, and share the myths with people, they will want to grow up to be like you.

I think that when you’re making your way up in the music industry, you have all these heroes and the reasons why they are your heroes. As soon as you get into the industry, your guidelines change a little bit. For me, my heroes now are great people first and great artists second.

Questioning my spiritual life has always been germane to what I was writing. Always. It’s because I’m not quite an atheist and it worries me. There’s that little bit that holds on: ‚Well, I’m almost an atheist. Give me a couple of months.‘

I’ve experienced great things, I’ve experienced great tragedies. I’ve done almost everything I could possibly ever imagine doing, but I just know that there’s more.

Man’s task is to become conscious of the contents that press upward from the unconscious.