Without this playing with fantasy no creative work has ever yet come to birth. The debt we owe to the play of the imagination is incalculable.

It is not once nor twice but times without number that the same ideas make their appearance in the world.

I write because writing is something that I have to do. And it doesn’t matter whether people like it or not. When I write, I feel the pressure and anxiety that come with taking an empty piece of paper and trying to fill it with something from your own consciousness.

And I wound up in New Orleans for all those years and it was a great place, really a catalyst creatively.

When I’m writing a record, I kind of don’t listen to much music. Just because I want to be inspired solely on the emotion; just based on how it feels.

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

We are motivated by a keen desire for praise, and the better a man is the more he is inspired by glory. The very philosophers themselves, even in those books which they write in contempt of glory, inscribe their names.

U2 is sort of song writing by accident really. We don’t really know what we’re doing and when we do, it doesn’t seem to help.

It’s very important that we re-learn the art of resting and relaxing. Not only does it help prevent the onset of many illnesses that develop through chronic tension and worrying; it allows us to clear our minds, focus, and find creative solutions to problems.

You sort of start thinking anything’s possible if you’ve got enough nerve.

You cannot be creative with people around you.

Science fiction is any idea that occurs in the head and doesn’t exist yet, but soon will, and will change everything for everybody, and nothing will ever be the same again. As soon as you have an idea that changes some small part of the world you are writing science fiction. It is always the art of the possible, never the impossible.

Imagination decides everything.

All good writing is swimming under water and holding your breath.

Sometimes I’ve called writing a disease. If so, I’m glad that it caught me.

My dad always said, ‚Champ, the measure of a man is not how often he is knocked down, but how quickly he gets up.‘

Young people are fitter to invent than to judge; fitter for execution than for counsel; and more fit for new projects than for settled business.

I tried to give the world a bit of creativity, lyrics. And for me, I will always represent music from Puerto Rico, reggaeton, Latin music.

Instead of worrying about what people say of you, why not spend time trying to accomplish something they will admire.

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.

Fiction is based on reality unless you’re a fairytale artist.

When I’m inspired, I get excited because I can’t wait to see what I’ll come up with next.

Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action.

In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.

My goal is to entertain myself and others.

The last people with any ideas are young people.

When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable.

There is spontaneity to my work.

It is a fact often observed, that men have written good verses under the inspiration of passion, who cannot write well under other circumstances.

I think life on Earth must be about more than just solving problems… It’s got to be something inspiring, even if it is vicarious.

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.

Good leaders must communicate vision clearly, creatively, and continually. However, the vision doesn’t come alive until the leader models it.

I grew up in a rural area called Vega Baja and I’m the first of so many talented people in this area to make it out. I take great pride to represent where I come from and I am able to show my fans, and everyone who listens and watches me, that anything is possible.

All great art is the work of the whole living creature, body and soul, and chiefly of the soul.

Every one of my regrets has produced a song I’m proud of.

Susceptibility to the highest forces is the highest genius.

Writing is a solitary experience. I’m extremely superstitious. If I talk about the book or name the title out loud before finishing, I feel the energy I need to write will be drained. It’s so intimate, I can’t even share it with my wife.

New ideas pass through three periods: 1) It can’t be done. 2) It probably can be done, but it’s not worth doing. 3) I knew it was a good idea all along!

I feel like my music has become a lot of things. It’s hard to label the evolution, but I like there to be an evolution. I just like to paint with all different kinds of colors.

A person with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds.

They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.

I love the name of honor, more than I fear death.

Do not go gentle into that good night but rage, rage against the dying of the light.

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.

Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake.

I don’t want to make niche-oriented music.

He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.

A word of encouragement from a teacher to a child can change a life. A word of encouragement from a spouse can save a marriage. A word of encouragement from a leader can inspire a person to reach her potential.

I should like to save the Shire, if I could – though there have been times when I thought the inhabitants too stupid and dull for words, and have felt that an earthquake or an invasion of dragons might be good for them.

I look at athletes in all sports and try to picture what kind of football player they’d be, what position they’d play and so on.

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.

I’ve always been amazed by Da Vinci, because he worked out science on his own. He would work by drawing things and writing down his ideas. Of course, he designed all sorts of flying machines way before you could actually build something like that.

Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.

We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.

I became interested in folk music because I had to make it somehow.

The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time.

It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.

Leaders must invoke an alchemy of great vision.

Just because you like my stuff doesn’t mean I owe you anything.

You can’t do it unless you can imagine it.

What my character is or how many jails I have lounged in, or wards or walls or wassails, how many lonely-heart poetry readings I have dodged, is beside the point. A man’s soul or lack of it will be evident with what he can carve upon a white sheet of paper.