“All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare.”

I do not know how to teach philosophy without becoming a disturber of established religion.

Pride is pleasure arising from a man’s thinking too highly of himself.

The more clearly you understand yourself and your emotions, the more you become a lover of what is.

What Paul says about Peter tells us more about Paul than about Peter.

Freedom is absolutely necessary for the progress in science and the liberal arts.

Happiness is a virtue, not its reward.

He who seeks equality between unequals seeks an absurdity.

The more you struggle to live, the less you live. Give up the notion that you must be sure of what you are doing. Instead, surrender to what is real within you, for that alone is sure, you are above everything distressing.

All happiness or unhappiness solely depends upon the quality of the object to which we are attached by love.

Peace is not the absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition of benevolence, confidence, justice.

Men are mistaken in thinking themselves free; their opinion is made up of consciousness of their own actions, and ignorance of the causes by which they are determined.

Be not astonished at new ideas; for it is well known to you that a thing does not therefore cease to be true because it is not accepted by many.

In practical life we are compelled to follow what is most probable ; in speculative thought we are compelled to follow truth.

Men govern nothing with more difficulty than their tongues, and can moderate their desires more than their words.

What everyone wants from life is continuous and genuine happiness.

I would warn you that I do not attribute to nature either beauty or deformity, order or confusion. Only in relation to our imagination can things be called beautiful or ugly, well-ordered or confused.

I mainly use Stratocasters. I like a lot of different kinds of guitars, but for what I do, it seems that a Stratocaster is the most versatile. I can pretty much get any sound out of it, and I use stock pickups.

The people who inspire me most are those who are willing to see the world from a loving perspective. People who perceive obstacles as opportunities and problems as spiritual assignments. People who choose love.

There are manifold tones of mental life, or, in other words, our psychic life may be lived at different heights, now nearer to action, now further removed from it, according to the degree of our attention to life.

I also found that for myself, since I’ve had no religious education, it was so interesting to see the different versions of heaven and what life on earth means.

I play as many different things – piano, sax and harp parts – as I can at once. Whatever I can fit, whenever I need to.

You get a different kick out of all aspects of filmmaking.

You cannot behave appropriately, unless you perceive correctly. Once you perceive you are a beam of Light, that comes from the mind of God, you will carry yourself differently.

Everybody has anger or regret in them one way or another. They all try different things to get it out. Some people go to psychiatrists. Some paint pictures. Some people talk it out.