You can live your life angry, bitter, mad at somebody or even guilty, not letting go of your own mistakes, but you won’t receive the good things God has in store.

Yeah we all shine on, like the moon, and the stars, and the sun.

Instead of being critical of people in authority over you and envious of their position, be happy you’re not responsible for everything they have to do. Instead of piling on complaints, thank them for what they do. Overwhelm them with encouragement and appreciation!

Let not your mind run on what you lack as much as on what you have already.

I separated from the Southern Baptists when they adopted the discriminatory attitude towards women, because I believe what Paul taught in Galatians that there is no distinction in God’s eyes between men and women, slaves and masters, Jews and non-Jews – everybody is created equally in the eyes of God.

There’s something which impels us to show our inner souls. The more courageous we are, the more we succeed in explaining what we know.

Work harder on yourself than you do on your job.

People can cry much easier than they can change.

Don’t talk about what you have done or what you are going to do.

If I feel good about my parenting, I have no interest in judging other people’s choices. If I feel good about my body, I don’t go around making fun of other people’s weight or appearance. We’re hard on each other because we’re using each other as a launching pad out of our own perceived deficiency.

What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but scattered along life’s pathway, the good they do is inconceivable.

If thy brother wrongs thee, remember not so much his wrong-doing, but more than ever that he is thy brother.

Always take hold of things by the smooth handle.

I never say I am a guru.

Real riches are the riches possessed inside.

Now that I understand that I’m an addict, I definitely have compassion for my mother. I get it.

God’s Spirit moves through us and the world at a pace that can never be constricted by any one religious paradigm.

Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.

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.

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

People aren’t supposed to look back. I’m certainly not going to do it anymore.

All of us should be on guard against beliefs that flatter ourselves. At the very least, we should check such beliefs against facts.

Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your God.

I hate to be smart.

So long as the memory of certain beloved friends lives in my heart, I shall say that life is good.

Playing Etta James in the movie ‚Cadillac Records‘ really changed me. It was a darker character, and I realized that if anything is too comfortable, I want to run from it. It’s no fun being safe.

God is not on the side of the big battalions, but on the side of those who shoot best.

To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.

Sometimes I catch myself stooping, and whenever I am like that, I am sure something is not quite right.

Forgiveness is God’s command.

I was becoming post-ideological.

There are two kinds of people one can call reasonable: those who serve God with all their heart because they know him, and those who seek him with all their heart because they do not know him.

Do not weep; do not wax indignant. Understand.

Every person who confesses that Christ Jesus is Lord, repents of their sin and gives their heart to God is a child of God and belongs to Him. And in Christ, we are made right with God, we are His righteousness, and we have the power of Christ in us to live right.

When you feel like it’s too hard to obey God, remember that He will never tell you to do something without giving you the grace, power and ability to do it.

By indignities men come to dignities.

Glory be and praise to God. I didn’t do any of this. God did. I don’t have a recipe or a blueprint. I prayed for it, and my prayers are continuing to be answered.

Everywhere I go I find that people… both leaders and individuals… are asking one basic question, ‚Is there any hope for the future?‘ My answer is the same, ‚Yes, through Jesus Christ.‘

Sometimes you must suffer through something to defeat your fear of it.

The only thing that matters is submitting to the will of God.

He shines in the second rank, who is eclipsed in the first.

What we face may look insurmountable. But I learned something from all those years of training and competing. I learned something from all those sets and reps when I didn’t think I could lift another ounce of weight. What I learned is that we are always stronger than we know.

I’m afraid that people who know me as I usually am will discover I have another side, a better and finer side. I’m afraid they’ll mock me, think I’m ridiculous and sentimental and not take me seriously. I’m used to not being taken seriously, but only the ‚light-hearted‘ Anne is used to it and can put up with it; the ‚deeper‘ Anne is too weak.

I like to recede away from classifications. You might say that indicates a fundamental lack of commitment. I suppose that’s true to some degree.

People pay for what they do, and still more for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it very simply; by the lives they lead.

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

Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.

Most of us are about as eager to be changed as we were to be born, and go through our changes in a similar state of shock.

I make preparations both to live and to die every day, but with the emphasis on not dying, and on acting as if I was going to carry on living.

Forgiveness is not a one-time thing that happened the day you received Christ. It is an everyday thing, for the rest of your life.

I’ve always written. There’s a journal which I kept from about 9 years old. The man who gave it to me lived across the street from the store and kept it when my grandmother’s papers were destroyed. I’d written some essays. I loved poetry, still do. But I really, really loved it then.

Wear a smile and have friends; wear a scowl and have wrinkles.

As you think, so shall you become.

It is better to be high-spirited even though one makes more mistakes, than to be narrow-minded and all too prudent.

The worst thing one can do is not to try, to be aware of what one wants and not give in to it, to spend years in silent hurt wondering if something could have materialized – never knowing.

And above all things, never think that you’re not good enough yourself. A man should never think that. My belief is that in life people will take you at your own reckoning.

We all have possibilities we don’t know about. We can do things we don’t even dream we can do.

Humility is the solid foundation of all virtues.

The temptation to take the easy road is always there. It is as easy as staying in bed in the morning and sleeping in. But discipline is paramount to ultimate success and victory for any leader and any team.

Fighting for one’s freedom, struggling towards being free, is like struggling to be a poet or a good Christian or a good Jew or a good Muslim or good Zen Buddhist. You work all day long and achieve some kind of level of success by nightfall, go to sleep and wake up the next morning with the job still to be done. So you start all over again.

I am an ordinary man who worked hard to develop the talent I was given. I believed in myself, and I believe in the goodness of others.