personal growth quotes

I never deny. I never contradict. I sometimes forget.

Love is an interesting thing. Perhaps I’ve never been in love before – I don’t really know? I think I have. I guess it’s subjective in that way.

Modesty is a learned affectation. And as soon as life slams the modest person against the wall, that modesty drops.

If someone you know makes a bad decision or uses bad judgment, it doesn’t mean you have to allow that to alter your attitude. Why should you allow anyone else’s bad decisions to send you into a tailspin of misery?

My lectures, based on Islamic teachings, were on various subjects. Some of the titles were, ‚The Intoxication of Life,‘ ‚The Purpose of Life,‘ ‚The Real Cause of Man’s Distress,‘ ‚The Journey to the Goal in Life,‘ and, one of my favorites, ‚The Heart of Man.‘ They contained important insights that spoke to something deep inside me.

You have to develop ways so that you can take up for yourself, and then you take up for someone else. And so sooner or later, you have enough courage to really stand up for the human race and say, ‚I’m a representative.‘

I made a decision when my father passed away that I was going to be who God made me to be and not try to preach like my father.

I’m the kind of person who needs to feel like everything happens for a reason. When you date a guy and it goes badly, that’s horrible. But if you can write a song about it, then it was worth it.

The only cure for contempt is counter-contempt.

I never do anything that I don’t want to do.

Don’t let the incidents which take place in life bring you low. And certainly don’t whine. You can be brought low, that’s OK, but don’t be reduced by them. Just say, ‚That’s life.‘

The man who can centre his thoughts and hopes upon something transcending self can find a certain peace in the ordinary troubles of life, which is impossible to the pure egoist.

If your inner life is not producing what you would like on the outside, don’t be discouraged… just be willing to change.

It’s always a struggle growing up in Akron.

When I was married, I definitely went through a lying period.

Freedom from effort in the present merely means that there has been effort stored up in the past.

You will find as you grow older that courage is the rarest of all qualities to be found in public life.

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

I used to have a real problem with self-pity. Every time the devil would throw a pity party, I would attend.

I don’t see myself in terms of artifice. I see myself as a real person who chooses to live my life in an open way – artistically.

You have to be able to accept failure to get better.

I always wonder when it was that I was embraced.

Because my dad abused me, I was determined to never let a man tell me what to do. God clearly showed me that I needed to be a submissive wife if I wanted to be effective in ministry. The truth is, if we don’t learn to submit to authority, we won’t ever learn to submit to God.

I’ve always wanted to live above my means because it inspired me to work harder.

I never hold a grudge.

If you’re not ready for everything, you’re not ready for anything.

God enters by a private door into every individual.

Do what you love. Know your own bone; gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it, and gnaw it still.

I don’t want followers.

There is no value in life except what you choose to place upon it and no happiness in any place except what you bring to it yourself.

When I was making the early stuff, I never expected it to be so big. I was in my own kind of bubble. I never wanted to tour; I just wanted to create music and make a diary I could put out into the world. And sometimes, I became the characters.

Self-pity in its early stage is as snug as a feather mattress. Only when it hardens does it become uncomfortable.

Travel teaches toleration.

My favorite thing in life is writing about life, specifically the parts of life concerning love. Because, as far as I’m concerned, love is absolutely everything.

When we get to wishing a great deal for ourselves, whatever we get soon turns into mere limitation and exclusion.

People who don’t know the true character of God – who don’t believe He is merciful, gracious and slow to anger – can never have a close, personal, intimate relationship with Him.

If you’re trying too hard to be the girl next door, you’re not going to be.

I know that I’m not the easiest person to live with. The challenge I put on myself is so great that the person I live with feels himself challenged. I bring a lot to bear, and I don’t know how not to.

A great part of courage is the courage of having done the thing before.

I like criticism. It makes you strong.

I’d like to think you don’t stop being creative once you get happy. My ultimate goal is to end up being happy. Most of the time.

I have total recall. I remember being born. I remember being in the womb, I remember being inside. Coming out was great.

As I got older, I guess I became more mellow and more forgiving and more loving.

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

I’m not intimidated by how people perceive me.

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

Every man has his own courage, and is betrayed because he seeks in himself the courage of other persons.

Little minds have little worries, big minds have no time for worries.

My goal is to entertain myself and others.

The best advice comes from people who don’t give advice.

It’s true that I’ve never had a burning desire to rebel against my parents.

Truthfully, without over-egging it, as I often do, the library and journalism, those things made me who I am.

Even the securest financial plan and the finest health coverage aren’t enough to hold us steady when the challenges come… We need something more, something deeper and unshakeable, something that will see us through life’s hard times.

We cannot learn men from books.

I don’t want to just revolve. I want to evolve. As a man, as a human, as a father, as a lover.

I feel like my music has become a lot of things. It’s hard to label the evolution, but I like there to be an evolution. I just like to paint with all different kinds of colors.

I couldn’t ever go back home without being something. I probably would never have gone back home. That was definitely a big motivation. To get back home, and not empty-handed.

I think so many people live their whole life in fear and doubt and shame.

We are always getting ready to live but never living.

I was becoming post-ideological.