Fulfill all your obligations, attend to your daily duties, be attached to nothing, no one—and be ever ready to depart when the call comes!
—Dada J. P. Vaswani (Indian Hindu Philosopher)
Of all the passions of mankind, the love of novelty most rules the mind. In search of this, from realm to realm we roam. Our fleets come loaded with every folly home.
—Shelby Foote (American Novelist, Historian)
Jazz today, as always in the past, is a matter of thoughtful creation, not mere unaided instinct.
—Duke Ellington (American Musician)
An autobiography is a book a person writes about his own life and it is usually full of all sorts of boring details.
—Roald Dahl (British Short-Story Writer, Playwright)
I may be crazy but it keeps me from going insane.
—Waylon Jennings (American Country Musician)
When Nike says, just do it, that’s a message of empowerment. Why aren’t the rest of us speaking to young people in a voice of inspiration?
—Naomi Klein (Canadian Author, Activist)
Abiding faith does not depend on borrowed concepts. Rather, it is the magnetic force of a bone-deep, lived understanding, one that draws us to realize our ideals, walk our talk, and act in accord with what we know to be true.
—Sharon Salzberg (Buddhist Teacher)
No man has a home unless he is master of a place where he must please no one—a place where he can go and lock the door behind him.
—Gene Wolfe (American Science Fiction, Fantasy Writer)
Confront the dark parts of yourself, and work to banish them with illumination and forgiveness. Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will cause your angels to sing. Use the pain as fuel, as a reminder of your strength.
—August Wilson (American Playwright)
The rich man in his castle, the poor man at his gate, God made them, high or lowly, and ordered their estate.
—Cecil Frances Alexander (Irish Hymn Writer)
Try as much as possible to be wholly alive, with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell and when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.
—William Saroyan (American Playwright, Novelist)
High achievers dwell on what they do well and spend very little time evaluating themselves and their performances.
—John Eliot (American Psychologist)