It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.

Ordinary readers, forgive my paradoxes: one must make them when one reflects; and whatever you may say, I prefer being a man with paradoxes than a man with prejudices.

Enthusiasm is the mother of effort, and without it nothing great was ever achieved.

Teachers can change lives with just the right mix of chalk and challenges.

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

As a vulnerability researcher, the greatest barrier I see is our low tolerance for vulnerability. We’re almost afraid to be happy. We feel like it’s inviting disaster.

No man can succeed in a line of endeavor which he does not like.

I cry so much less than I used to. I used to be one of the most teary people.

For a long time, I had the idea that I would do a certain amount of work the best I could, and then I would reach a comfort zone, and I wouldn’t be pushed to write more. I would become a different person. It’s a surprise to me that this hasn’t happened. Your body ages, but your mind is the same.

The writer must believe that what he is doing is the most important thing in the world. And he must hold to this illusion even when he knows it is not true.

I feel that God wants me to coach; otherwise, he wouldn’t have put the desire in me.

My philosophy in life is, Decide what you want to do. You have to have something to hope for.

In other words, don’t expect to always be great. Disappointments, failures and setbacks are a normal part of the lifecycle of a unit or a company and what the leader has to do is constantly be up and say ‚we have a problem, let’s go and get it‘.

All the knowledge I possess everyone else can acquire, but my heart is all my own.

There are a lot of ‚chicken Christians.‘ Chickens are generally afraid of life, and they seldom fly or reach their potential in life. And when a storm comes, all they seem to do is flap around the chicken yard, stirring up dirt and running to the chicken house.

With ideas it is like with dizzy heights you climb: At first they cause you discomfort and you are anxious to get down, distrustful of your own powers; but soon the remoteness of the turmoil of life and the inspiring influence of the altitude calm your blood; your step gets firm and sure and you begin to look – for dizzier heights.

The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.

A lot of the problems I had with fame I was bringing on myself. A lot of self-loathing, a lot of woe-is-me. Now I’m learning to see the positive side of things, instead of, like, ‚I can’t go to Kmart. I can’t take my kids to the haunted house.‘

I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be.

Make the most of your regrets; never smother your sorrow, but tend and cherish it till it comes to have a separate and integral interest. To regret deeply is to live afresh.

My biggest criticism is how can people be so easily satisfied? Even people with talent.

It’s amazing: I am a New Yorker. It’s strange; I never thought I would be.

It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.

I strongly believe that missionaries make better products. They care more. For a missionary, it’s not just about the business. There has to be a business, and the business has to make sense, but that’s not why you do it. You do it because you have something meaningful that motivates you.

The resistance that you fight physically in the gym and the resistance that you fight in life can only build a strong character.

I have quite a decent constitution in spite of all my abuse of it and my advanced years. I’m still quite robust.

I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back.

I’m happy being myself, which I’ve never been before. I always hid in other people, or tried to find myself through the characters, or live out their lives, but I didn’t have those things in mine.

Only the insecure strive for security.

I’ve arrived at the place if I’m not taking a career risk, I’m not happy. If I’m scared, then I know I’m being challenged.

A man is but the product of his thoughts, what he thinks he becomes.

Brad was a huge surprise to me. I think we were both the last two people who were looking for a relationship. I certainly wasn’t. I was quite content to be a single mom with Mad.

Extreme hopes are born from extreme misery.

The fearful unbelief is unbelief in yourself.

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.

One of the huge imbalances in life is the disparity between your daily existence, with its routines and habits, and the dream you have within yourself of some extraordinarily satisfying way of living.

You don’t want to pigeonhole yourself.

Who can exhaust a man? Who knows a man’s resources?

No one can guarantee success in war, but only deserve it.

Self-centered leaders manipulate when they move people for personal benefit. Mature leaders motivate by moving people for mutual benefit.

Get action. Seize the moment. Man was never intended to become an oyster.

We must think and act like a nation of a billion people and not like that of a million people. Dream, dream, dream!

What a wee little part of a person’s life are his acts and his words! His real life is led in his head, and is known to none but himself.

Just because something didn’t work out your way, or somebody disappointed you, that does not change who you are.

I want to solidify as an artist and show that as I grow as a person and make mistakes and learn from them, I’m going to grow artistically.

Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything wise in this world.

There is no coming to consciousness without pain.

We shall draw from the heart of suffering itself the means of inspiration and survival.

By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond the winning.

I want to represent… to the kids to draw strength from me. So they can see that everybody goes through something, but you can rise up and do your best. Just try.

It is a man’s own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways.

The most important thing is to read as much as you can, like I did. It will give you an understanding of what makes good writing and it will enlarge your vocabulary.

I don’t like looking back. I’m always constantly looking forward. I’m not the one to sort of sit and cry over spilt milk. I’m too busy looking for the next cow.

I’m only as good as my last word, my last hook, my last bridge.

People say you have to hit rock bottom, and, I can tell you, almost dying is as rock bottom as it gets.

Our necessities never equal our wants.

I think it all comes down to motivation. If you really want to do something, you will work hard for it.

If you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success.

The moment the alarm goes off is the first test; it sets the tone for the rest of the day. The test is not a complex one: when the alarm goes off, do you get up out of bed, or do you lie there in comfort and fall back to sleep? If you have the discipline to get out of bed, you win – you pass the test.

I hate to be smart.

‚Worry‘ is a word that I don’t allow myself to use.