We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.

Any artist, the work you do, if it’s a painting or if it’s a performance, you hope it translates to a common denominator with the people that they see something in their own life in there. Or they see something in somebody else’s life. That’s what’s fun about sharing art.

Growing old is like being increasingly penalized for a crime you haven’t committed.

Act enthusiastic and you will be enthusiastic.

If you want a quality, act as if you already had it.

I think what motivates people is not great hate, but great love for other people.

The gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge.

The best way out is always through.

There is no man living that can not do more than he thinks he can.

The making of the far-famed New York Central Park was opposed by even good men, with misguided pluck, perseverance, and ingenuity, but straight right won its way, and now that park is appreciated. So we confidently believe it will be with our great national parks and forest reservations.

Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.

I don’t have any stress. I’m very lucky. I live a very healthy life.

Education is not a problem. Education is an opportunity.

Energy begets energy.

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

God helps those who help themselves.

Once you say you’re going to settle for second, that’s what happens to you in life.

I never lose sight of the fact that just being is fun.

We were poor, but we smiled.

Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity.

I’m sure the feeling of fear, as long as you can take advantage of it and not be rendered useless by it, can make you extend yourself beyond what you would regard as your capacity. If you’re afraid, the blood seems to flow freely through the veins, and you really do feel a sense of stimulation.

‚Two Voices,‘ from my album with Peter Schwalm, is an intact dream-poem. I awoke one night with an image of a piece of paper and all the words of the poem written on it, so I just blundered down to the kitchen table and ‚copied it out.‘

No sanction can stand against ignited minds.

Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.

I would rather be able to appreciate things I can not have than to have things I am not able to appreciate.

Once you hear the details of victory, it is hard to distinguish it from a defeat.

As our enemies have found we can reason like men, so now let us show them we can fight like men also.

Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.

I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.

A hundred struggle and drown in the breakers. One discovers the new world. But rather, ten times rather, die in the surf, heralding the way to that new world, than stand idly on the shore.

Find a beautiful piece of art. If you fall in love with Van Gogh or Matisse or John Oliver Killens, or if you fall love with the music of Coltrane, the music of Aretha Franklin, or the music of Chopin – find some beautiful art and admire it, and realize that that was created by human beings just like you, no more human, no less.

Once we start to act, hope is everywhere. So instead of looking for hope, look for action. Then, and only then, hope will come.

If selfishness is the key to being miserable, then selflessness must be the key to being happy!

Fear is stupid. So are regrets.

The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases.

It was a personal decision for me to stand and say that cricket is all I have in life, there’s nothing I need to do other than cricket. If I want to achieve whatever I thought as a kid, I need to work hard and not let it go to waste.

Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.

It’s very inexpensive to give a compliment.

Racing, competing, it’s in my blood. It’s part of me, it’s part of my life; I have been doing it all my life and it stands out above everything else.

The only way you gain mental toughness is to do things you’re not happy doing. If you continue doing things that you’re satisfied and make you happy, you’re not getting stronger. You’re staying where you’re at. Either you’re getting better, or you’re getting worse. You’re not staying the same.

Rejoicing in our joy, not suffering over our suffering, makes someone a friend.

Smiling is very important. If we are not able to smile, then the world will not have peace. It is not by going out for a demonstration against nuclear missiles that we can bring about peace. It is with our capacity of smiling, breathing, and being peace that we can make peace.

Eradications are special. Zero is a magic number. You either do what it takes to get to zero and you’re glad you did it; or you get close, give up and it goes back to where it was before, in which case you wasted all that credibility, activity, money that could have been applied to other things.

One might say that our words are a movie screen that reveals what we have been thinking and the attitudes we have.

If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.

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.

All my life, whenever it comes time to make a decision, I make it and forget about it.

Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.

God wants to use you to make other people happy! And the happier you make others, the happier you will be because you reap what you sow.

I’m different than most people. When I cross the finish line of a big race, I see that people are ecstatic, but I’m thinking about what I’m going to do tomorrow. It’s as if my journey is everlasting, and there is no finish line.

When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound, rebuild those plans, and set sail once more toward your coveted goal.

The most miraculous process is watching a song go from a tiny idea in the middle of the night to something that 55,000 people are singing back to you.

I don’t write the books. God writes the books and delivers the speeches.

Love and desire are the spirit’s wings to great deeds.

If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.

I booked my first studio at like 12 or 13. Somewhere in that season of my life, singing along with the radio became me wanting to be on radio, you know. And writing Langston Hughes replica poems became me wanting to write like Stevie Wonder.

No matter what happens on the field, getting an education makes you a winner.

With drive and a bit of talent, you can move mountains. I know. I’ve done it.

Seventy percent of success in life is showing up.

You just do what you can and you have as much fun as possible.

When I heard the Pixies for the first time, I connected with that band so heavily I should have been in that band – or at least in a Pixies cover band.