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.

Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.

I always thought it was wrong for me to take credit for the work that I did. I don’t think that anymore.

The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within.

Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.

As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.

There are people who can do all fine and heroic things but one – keep from telling their happiness to the unhappy.

A lot of artists fail when they try to act, and they flop. So when I get into acting, it’s going to be to do it well, something good, something of quality. I want people to say, ‚Wow, that movie‘ – or that show or whatever – ‚turned out really well.‘

And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.

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

The more I grow in popularity, the lonelier it gets. Because you don’t really know me. You just know this part of me. You fell in love with that. But it’s way more intricate than what meets the surface.

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

Weak character will neutralize all of the other possible good qualities a person might possess.

When the kids are laughing in the audience, I tear up, I’m so happy I did a nice thing.

The thermometer of success is merely the jealousy of the malcontents.

In the fight between you and the world, back the world.

Everything that enlarges the sphere of human powers, that shows man he can do what he thought he could not do, is valuable.

It is impossible for you to be angry and laugh at the same time. Anger and laughter are mutually exclusive and you have the power to choose either.

I had a lot of resistance, and not just to fame. I was always conscious of not changing.

I just think it’s so important not to take yourself too seriously.

The question of whether or not there is a God or truth or reality or whatever you like to call it, can never be answered by books, by priests, philosopher’s or saviours. Nobody and nothing can answer the question but you yourself, and that is why you must know yourself – Immaturity lies only in total ignorance of self.

When you see something that is technically sweet, you go ahead and do it and you argue about what to do about it only after you have had your technical success. That is the way it was with the atomic bomb.

Peace is one of the most precious gifts God has promised His children. I know, because for many years my life was not peaceful, and I was miserable.

For a long time, I had the idea that I would do a certain amount of work the best I could, and then I would reach a comfort zone, and I wouldn’t be pushed to write more. I would become a different person. It’s a surprise to me that this hasn’t happened. Your body ages, but your mind is the same.

One cannot violate the promptings of one’s nature without having that nature recoil upon itself.

There is a soak-the-rich attitude in the air, a feeling that if you have a lot of money you must have got it by some ghastly means. I can quite happily say there was never any family money. All the money we got was mine, just from writing books.

In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present.

Protect your enthusiasm from the negativity of others.

Luck marches with those who give their very best.

The good part about youngsters is that they are so fearless. You want to be like them.

Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart.

You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.

Sometimes, you might meet somebody that you love that’s turning into a ‚they.‘ My key is invite them to Miami and take them to the ocean and let them jump off the boat in the ocean, on the sand bar, and cleanse off and pray and then go take a shower, and hopefully the ‚they‘ is out of you.

Adversity leads us to think properly of our state, and so is most beneficial to us.

Always first draw fresh breath after outbursts of vanity and complacency.

Vulnerability is the birthplace of connection and the path to the feeling of worthiness. If it doesn’t feel vulnerable, the sharing is probably not constructive.

My message, especially to young people is to have courage to think differently, courage to invent, to travel the unexplored path, courage to discover the impossible and to conquer the problems and succeed. These are great qualities that they must work towards. This is my message to the young people.

It is necessary to help others, not only in our prayers, but in our daily lives. If we find we cannot help others, the least we can do is to desist from harming them.

When I came to Johannesburg from the countryside, I knew nobody, but many strangers were very kind to me. I then was dragged into politics, and then, subsequently, I became a lawyer.

We learned about honesty and integrity – that the truth matters… that you don’t take shortcuts or play by your own set of rules… and success doesn’t count unless you earn it fair and square.

I was born with a great gift, and sometimes with that comes a destructive streak.

I made my fair share of mistakes.

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.

We will naturally pursue our goals on the strength of our own resources, skills and enterprise. But, we know that we will be more successful when we do this in partnership with the world.

When I grew up, the Devil was a reason why I had a headache or the Devil was the reason I got mad today. We always blamed the Devil. I think today when I say the Enemy, I like to make it broader. Sometimes the Enemy can be our own thoughts.

A lot of people like to do certain things, but they’re not that good at it. Keep going through the things that you like to do, until you find something that you actually seem to be extremely good at. It can be anything.

To be idle and to be poor have always been reproaches, and therefore every man endeavors with his utmost care to hide his poverty from others, and his idleness from himself.

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.

I’ve never been a boyfriend kind of girl.

I keep working because I learn something new all the time.

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.

Wherever you are, be there totally. If you find your here and now intolerable and it makes you unhappy, you have three options: remove yourself from the situation, change it, or accept it totally. If you want to take responsibility for your life, you must choose one of those three options, and you must choose now. Then accept the consequences.

I have great respect for the past. If you don’t know where you’ve come from, you don’t know where you’re going. I have respect for the past, but I’m a person of the moment. I’m here, and I do my best to be completely centered at the place I’m at, then I go forward to the next place.

I think that there is never an indispensable leader, you know? I think that there is a time with dignity that one needs to leave.

My father, who was jailed for stealing on more than one occasion, just abandoned his fatherly responsibilities and disappeared. I grew up working from the time I was nine years of age. Money was a big issue everywhere I lived.

The most positive men are the most credulous.

Remember that life’s big changes rarely give advance warning.

Remembering what you’ve been through and how that has strengthened your mindset can lift you out of a negative brain loop and help you bypass those weak, one-second impulses to give in. Even if you’re feeling low and beat down by life right now, I guarantee you can think of a time or two when you overcame odds and tasted success.

There is no harm in repeating a good thing.

I do not know myself, and God forbid that I should.

If this were all to go away tomorrow, all the big success, I would still be very happy going from bar to bar playing music for people.