“The ability to hold two competing thoughts in one’s mind and still be able to function is the mark of a superior mind”

At eighteen our convictions are hills from which we look; at forty-five they are caves in which we hide.

That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you’re not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong.

Actually that’s my secret — I can’t even talk about you to anybody because I don’t want any more people to know how wonderful you are.

For what it’s worth, it’s never too late to be whoever you want to be. I hope you live a life you’re proud of and if you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start over.

The reason one writes isn’t the fact he wants to say something. He writes because he has something to say.

The world, as a rule, does not live on beaches and in country clubs.

You really ought to read more books – you know, those things that look like blocks but come apart on one side.

Experience is the name so many people give to their mistakes.

Celibacy goes deeper than the flesh.

I suppose books mean more than people to me anyway

You see I usually find myself among strangers because I drift here and there trying to forget the sad things that happened to me.

It was only a sunny smile, and little it cost in the giving, but like morning light it scattered the night and made the day worth living.

Vitality shows in not only the ability to persist but the ability to start over.

To be kind is more important than to be right. Many times, what people need is not a brilliant mind that speaks but a special heart that listens.

You remind me of a smoked cigarette.

There’s no substitute for will. Sometimes you have to fake will when you don’t feel it at all.

Leadership requires two things: a vision of the world that does not yet exist and the ability to communicate it.

We don’t ask you to believe in our ability to bring change, rather, we ask you to believe in yours.

We don’t ask you to believe in our ability to bring change, rather, we ask you to believe in yours.

I am very proud of everyone who showed Japan’s ability to the world’s strongest players at the World Cup held here in Japan for the first time in Asia.

There is no fundamental difference between man and animals in their ability to feel pleasure and pain, happiness, and misery.

I just try to do the good job that I have to the best of my ability and I really don’t think about whether I’m inspirational. I just do the best I can.

The ability to ask questions is the greatest resource in learning the truth.

Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is the ability to act effectively, in spite of fear.