Whatever the universal nature assigns to any man at any time is for the good of that man at that time.

Such as we are made of, such we be.

If you understand the universe, you control it, in a way.

My freshman and sophomore years in high school, I spent a lot of time trying to get back on the right track. I was arrested multiple times by the time I was 16, so I had a little harder time trying to adjust like a lot of us do in high school.

What is a fear of living? It’s being preeminently afraid of dying. It is not doing what you came here to do, out of timidity and spinelessness. The antidote is to take full responsibility for yourself – for the time you take up and the space you occupy. If you don’t know what you’re here to do, then just do some good.

The formation of one’s character ought to be everyone’s chief aim.

When I write, it’s like choosing which shoes I’m going to put on. More often than not, my lyrics are personal – but I sometimes have to put myself in other people’s shoes.

He who has not the spirit of this age, has all the misery of it.

I want to work; then, as my kids get older, I want to have adventures. I want to visit all their countries: learn and live inside all their cultures.

The man with a toothache thinks everyone happy whose teeth are sound. The poverty-stricken man makes the same mistake about the rich man.

Religions get lost as people do.

Peace in the world starts with peace in oneself. If everyone lives mindfully, everyone will be more healthy, feel more fulfilled in their daily lives and there will be more peace.

Live your life while you have it. Life is a splendid gift. There is nothing small in it. Far the greatest things grow by God’s law out of the smallest. But to live your life, you must discipline it.

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.

Justice is a temporary thing that must at last come to an end; but the conscience is eternal and will never die.

Paradise was made for tender hearts; hell, for loveless hearts.

It is by no means an irrational fancy that, in a future existence, we shall look upon what we think our present existence, as a dream.

Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is Enlightenment.

Every day that is born into the world comes like a burst of music and rings the whole day through, and you make of it a dance, a dirge, or a life march, as you will.

Know that any and all thoughts that you have regarding your own skills, interests, and inclinations are valid. To reinforce the validity of your thoughts, keep them private. Tell yourself that they’re between you and God.

I’m not going to change the way I look or the way I feel to conform to anything. I’ve always been a freak. So I’ve been a freak all my life and I have to live with that, you know. I’m one of those people.

One of the things I did when I discovered this huge importance of being vulnerable is very happily moved away from the shame research, because that’s such a downer, and people hate that topic. It’s not that vulnerability is the upside, but it’s better than shame, I guess.

There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn.

Indignation is a submission of our thoughts, but not of our desires.

Say not, ‚I have found the truth,‘ but rather, ‚I have found a truth.‘

It seemed the world was divided into good and bad people. The good ones slept better while the bad ones seemed to enjoy the waking hours much more.

I let people fill in the blanks on their own. If they want to think about their ex, that’s fine. If they want to think about maybe who one of my exes is, then that’s fine. And it might not be right, because I’m the only one who knows what these songs are really about. It’s the one shred of privacy I have in the matter.

So let’s be honest with ourselves and not take ourselves too serious, and never condemn the other fellow for doing what we are doing every day, only in a different way.

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.

To know oneself, one should assert oneself.

Blessedness is not the reward of virtue but virtue itself.

I cannot always control what goes on outside. But I can always control what goes on inside.

Depend upon it that if a man talks of his misfortunes there is something in them that is not disagreeable to him; for where there is nothing but pure misery there never is any recourse to the mention of it.

By taking responsibility for how you choose to respond to anything or anyone, you’re aligning yourself with the beautiful dance of life.

There is no love of life without despair of life.

Truth is a good dog; but always beware of barking too close to the heels of an error, lest you get your brains kicked out.

I don’t see the point of doing an interview unless you’re going to share the things you learn in life and the mistakes you make. So to admit that I’m extremely human and have done some dark things I don’t think makes me unusual or unusually dark. I think it actually is the right thing to do, and I’d like to think it’s the nice thing to do.

We are never deceived; we deceive ourselves.

We often refuse to accept an idea merely because the tone of voice in which it has been expressed is unsympathetic to us.

Who is rich? He that rejoices in his portion.

Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.

To be a real philosopher all that is necessary is to hate some one else’s type of thinking.

The Bible tells us to be perfect. This is likely a scary thought for many people. It used to scare me. I didn’t think I could ever get there, no matter how hard I tried.

People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.

I want to challenge you today to get out of your comfort zone. You have so much incredible potential on the inside. God has put gifts and talents in you that you probably don’t know anything about.

If I shall exist eternally, how shall I exist tomorrow?

Man only likes to count his troubles, but he does not count his joys.

Every wall is a door.

The only passion that guides me is for the truth… I look at everything from this point of view.

The more man meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be his world and the world at large.

It’s not the destination that matters. It’s the change of scene.

As soon as man does not take his existence for granted, but beholds it as something unfathomably mysterious, thought begins.

So act that your principle of action might safely be made a law for the whole world.

I used to have insecurity about my finances, then I announced that I had debt, and now I don’t have any insecurities.

You should never give up your inner self.

One advantage in keeping a diary is that you become aware with reassuring clarity of the changes which you constantly suffer.

I accept chaos, I’m not sure whether it accepts me.

Humor must not professedly teach and it must not professedly preach, but it must do both if it would live forever.

Drag your thoughts away from your troubles… by the ears, by the heels, or any other way you can manage it.

Our life is what our thoughts make it.

Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does.