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

What humility does for one is it reminds us that there are people before me. I have already been paid for. And what I need to do is prepare myself so that I can pay for someone else who has yet to come but who may be here and needs me.

I don’t want to look sloppy, because then I feel sloppy.

Only the really plain people know about love – the very fascinating ones try so hard to create an impression that they soon exhaust their talents.

A man can’t be too careful in the choice of his enemies.

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.

People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.

Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life so.

It’s like, remember who you always were, where you came from, who your parents were, how they raised you. Because that authentic self is going to follow you all through life, so make sure that it’s solid so it’s something that you can hold on and be proud of for the rest of your life.

Key is never be afraid of being yourself. Never!

Confession of errors is like a broom which sweeps away the dirt and leaves the surface brighter and clearer. I feel stronger for confession.

Most people already know what they’re doing wrong. When I get them to church I want to tell them that you can change.

How does a nice Catholic girl end up going to prison for a year? It’s crazy. I’ve made mistakes. I have to pay for those mistakes.

If anything is certain, it is that I myself am not a Marxist.

I would like to fly in space. Absolutely. That would be cool. I used to just do personally risky things, but now I’ve got kids and responsibilities, so I can’t be my own test pilot. That wouldn’t be a good idea. But I definitely want to fly as soon as it’s a sensible thing to do.

I’ve come to the conclusion that mythology is really a form of archaeological psychology. Mythology gives you a sense of what a people believes, what they fear.

Man is a universe within himself.

We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.

It’s hard for anybody who’s been with me not to feel starved for affection when I’m making love to my ideas. Maybe it’s not meant for me to settle down and be married.

Life doesn’t require that we be the best, only that we try our best.

Character is power.

The truth is that you can only come to know God when you give up the past and the future in your mind and merge totally into the now, because God is always here now.

Unbeing dead isn’t being alive.

The unsuccessful person is burdened by learning, and prefers to walk down familiar paths. Their distaste for learning stunts their growth and limits their influence.

The story of the human race is the story of men and women selling themselves short.

I just really believe people have to get hungry. I think maybe what we need to do, instead of trying to stuff our beliefs down people’s throats, is just pray for them to really be hungry and to see their neediness.

The abdomen is the reason why man does not readily take himself to be a god.

If a woman possesses manly virtues one should run away from her; and if she does not possess them she runs away from herself.

I no longer feel attracted to the well-made novel. I want to write the story that will zero in and give you intense, but not connected, moments of experience. I guess that’s the way I see life. People remake themselves bit by bit and do things they don’t understand.

The question is not, ‚Do you have a problem?‘ The question is, ‚Does the problem have you?‘

I have learned that I really do have discipline, self-control, and patience. But they were given to me as a seed, and it’s up to me to choose to develop them.

If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn’t part of ourselves doesn’t disturb us.

The ego is nothing other than the focus of conscious attention.

Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves.

Whatever work you do, you think are you doing this for the good of the nation? That’s the basic training. The other basic training is discipline. Your life should be disciplined. The other thing they say is what work you get, do it well.

If I feel anxious every time someone is staring at me, well, I can’t control what they stare at, but my reaction is, I’m just not going to go outside the house. I’m going to stay in and chill. And when I do go out, I understand what comes along with that.

Anyone who has declared someone else to be an idiot, a bad apple, is annoyed when it turns out in the end that he isn’t.

I’m not going to change the world. You’re not going to change the world. But we can help – we can all help.

Confine yourself to the present.

There are some cases in which the sense of injury breeds not the will to inflict injuries and climb over them as a ladder, but a hatred of all injury.

I can never be safe; I always try and go against the grain. As soon as I accomplish one thing, I just set a higher goal. That’s how I’ve gotten to where I am.

No one gossips about other people’s secret virtues.

I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it.

It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.

I am a Christian and a Democrat, that’s all.

The more you seek the uncomfortable, the more you will become comfortable.

There is more wisdom in your body than in your deepest philosophy.

Adversity has ever been considered the state in which a man most easily becomes acquainted with himself.

To remain a credible leader, I must always work first, hardest, and longest on changing myself. This is neither easy nor natural, but it is essential.

Our whole life is set up in the path of least resistance. We don’t want to suffer. We don’t want to feel discomfort. So the whole time, we’re living our lives in a very comfortable area. There’s no growth in that.

I’m much healthier now.

Overall there’s going to be things I’m not great at.

Individuals need to be willing to face truth about their attitudes, behaviors, even what we want out of life.

Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.

Who would ever think that so much went on in the soul of a young girl?

For all right judgment of any man or things it is useful, nay, essential, to see his good qualities before pronouncing on his bad.

The man with insight enough to admit his limitations comes nearest to perfection.

Ambition has become a dirty word, and I believe it is a great evolutionary force for the positive. If people fail or go astray in their ambition I can live with it but not with people lowering their expectations, wasting time, slacking off and glorifying failure and stupidity.

A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.

I’m going to let God be the judge of who goes to heaven and hell.

I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was.