“Midlife is when you reach the top of the ladder and find that it was against the wrong wall.”

Eternity is not future or past. Eternity is a dimension of now.

At the darkest moment comes the light.

All the gods, all the heavens, all the hells, are within you.

The very cave you are afraid to enter turns out to be the source of what you are looking for.

There’s nothing you can do that’s more important than being fulfilled. You become a sign, you become a signal, transparent to transcendence; in this way, you will find, live, and become a realization of your own personal myth.

I have found that you have only to take that one step toward the gods, and they will then take ten steps toward you. That step, the heroic first step of the journey, is out of, or over the edge of, your boundaries, and it often must be taken before you know that you will.

Art is the set of wings to carry you out of your own entanglement.

It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure.

If you want the whole thing, the gods will give it to you. But you must be ready for it.

We’re not on our journey to save the world but to save ourselves. But in doing that you save the world. The influence of a vital person vitalizes.

We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.

What we are really living for is the experience of life, both the pain and the pleasure.

The best things cannot be told, the second best are misunderstood. After that comes civilized conversation; after that, mass indoctrination; after that, intercultural exchange.

The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature.

The big question is whether you are going to be able to say a hearty yes to your adventure.

Survival is the second law of life. The first is that we are all one.

Illness and problems are the specialties of life. But the death of a child is a cause of mental agony which can be overcome if one concedes this world to be a stage or stadium wherein praiseworthy are those who are not proud of their achievement and those who do not cry at their defeat.

I’ve told you the four thunderstorms – disappointment, frustration, unfairness and isolation. You cannot avoid them, as like the monsoon they will come into your life at regular intervals. You just need to keep the raincoat handy to not let the spark die.

As long as the shackles of wealth and property bind us, we will remain accursed forever and never attain the altar of humanity, which is life’s ultimate goal.

Life is best spent in alleviating pain, assuaging distress, and promoting peace and joy. The service of man is more valuable than what you call “service to God.” God has no need of your service. Pleas man, you please God.

This is a new point in my life, and things are totally changing. But like the sunsets I saw on Tybee Island, the miles I’ve already gone are going to stay with me.

In ease of body, peace of mind, all the different ranks of life are nearly upon a level and the beggar who suns himself by the side of the highway, possesses that security which kings are fighting for.

The characters I portray are an extension of what I’ve seen, heard, or read, and so what you see in my films are how I understand life.

Stop giving anger power in your life.