When I have an idea, I turn down the flame, as if it were a little alcohol stove, as low as it will go. Then it explodes and that is my idea.

A musician should only sound like what they do, and no two musicians sound the same. It’s an individual-feel thing, you know?

On life’s vast ocean diversely we sail. Reasons the card, but passion the gale.

O, you men who think or say that I am malevolent, stubborn or misanthropic, how greatly do you wrong me. You do not know the secret cause which makes me seem that way to you, and I would have ended my life – it was only my art that held me back. Ah, it seemed impossible to leave the world until I had brought forth all that I felt was within me.

There is no blue without yellow and without orange.

How oft the sight of means to do ill deeds makes ill deeds done!

There have to be reasons that you get up in the morning and you want to live. Why do you want to live? What’s the point? What inspires you? What do you love about the future? If the future does not include being out there among the stars and being a multi-planet species, I find that incredibly depressing.

I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles.

Life can be boring unless you put some effort into it.

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.

I do not like the man who squanders life for fame; give me the man who living makes a name.

When words are scarce they are seldom spent in vain.

Whether it’s Google or Apple or free software, we’ve got some fantastic competitors and it keeps us on our toes.

An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all.

I think my biggest musical hero growing up was probably Ian MacKaye. He set a great example for all of us local musicians. Still, to this day, I see him as the best example of a right-on musician.

Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.

The smallest seed of faith is better than the largest fruit of happiness.

With a tree, all the growth takes place at the growing tips. Humanity is exactly the same. All the growth takes place in the growing tip: among that one percent of the population. It’s made up of pioneers, the beginners. That’s where the action is.

Practically everybody in New York has half a mind to write a book, and does.

You cannot hope to sweep someone else away by the force of your writing until it has been done to you.

To love one that is great, is almost to be great one’s self.

As a novelist, you could say that I am dreaming while I am awake, and every day I can continue with yesterday’s dream. Because it is a dream, there are so many contradictions and I have to adjust them to make the story work. But, in principle, the original dream does not change.

The multiplication force of technology on cognitive differences is massive.

You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created.

Scientists have to have a metaphor. All scientists start with imagination.

Take a chance! All life is a chance. The man who goes farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare.

There is a difference between what technology enables and what historical business practices enable.

It is the flash which appears, the thunderbolt will follow.

Like getting into a bleeding competition with a blood bank.

Beautiful sentences pop into my head. Beautiful sentences that aren’t always absolutely accurate. Then, I have to choose between the beautiful sentence and being absolutely accurate. It can be a difficult choice.

In cricket, my superhero is Sachin Tendulkar. He has always been my hero and will continue to remain so. Apart from him and outside cricket, my mother has remained my inspiration. Whatever difficult time I had faced, she was always there for me. She has given me all the strength. She maintained her composure and supported me in tough times.

I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

A wounded deer leaps the highest.

I don’t think I’d ever apologise for music I make, no.

Apple took the edge off the word ‚computer.‘

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

Many times, we miss out on God’s best because we give up too soon. We don’t realize how close we are to victory.

No sanction can stand against ignited minds.

The microprocessor is a miracle.

I’m never gonna step away from stand-up. I can’t. That’s what got me where I am, and that’s also my muse. That’s how I stay level-headed. That’s what keeps me going.

Asking is the beginning of receiving. Make sure you don’t go to the ocean with a teaspoon. At least take a bucket so the kids won’t laugh at you.

I would like to see a future where artists think that they have a right to contemplate things like global warming.

My view is there’s no bad time to innovate.

Nobody should come to the movies unless he believes in heroes.

In my research, I’ve interviewed a lot of people who never fit in, who are what you might call ‚different‘: scientists, artists, thinkers. And if you drop down deep into their work and who they are, there is a tremendous amount of self-acceptance.

I don’t live for the accolades. I’m more so about the music. Making it, and putting it out. Those are the two best feelings.

The future is called ‚perhaps‘, which is the only possible thing to call the future. And the important thing is not to allow that to scare you.

Hope travels through, nor quits us when we die.

If I waited for perfection… I would never write a word.

The question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be… The nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.

Such a chimerical idea as telegraphing vocal sounds would indeed, to most minds, seem scarcely feasible enough to spend time in working over. I believe, however, that it is feasible and that I have got the cue to the solution of the problem.

There are definitely people who disagree with certain creative decisions you make. Pleasing everyone is pretty hard.

The truest wisdom is a resolute determination.

Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told: ‚I’m with you kid. Let’s go.‘

We like to think about how smart we are. But I think talent as a writer is hard-wired in, it’s all there, at least the basic elements of it. You can’t change it any more than you can choose whether to be right handed or left handed.

I have the Midas touch, in the way that when I hook up with a project, I feel, not speaking cocky or conceited, but there’s a confidence I have. I learned that from Muhammad Ali; I used to bodyguard him. He taught me about confidence. So when it comes to any job I work, I’m gonna do it good; I’m going to bring it over the top.

Japan’s very interesting. Some people think it copies things. I don’t think that anymore. I think what they do is reinvent things. They will get something that’s already been invented and study it until they thoroughly understand it. In some cases, they understand it better than the original inventor.

Meditation has been a loyal friend to me. It has helped me write my books.

I’ve written some great things. That’s a gift, but there’s consequences. Yeah, you get this great work, but you suffer. You really, really suffer.

One word from the Lord is like a piece of gold to a believer, who is like a jeweler, shaping and hammering out the promise for a number of weeks.

Apple has given me a platform to spread music. They’re giving us Latinos a chance to shine.