“No mortal eye has ever fully seen a flash of lightning … for no matter how firmly we look, our eyes are sure to be dazzled.”

When the foot of the’ mountain is enveloped in mist, the mountain appears to us much loftier than it is; so also when the ground and basis of a disaster is not clear to us.

I have been young and am now old, and have not yet known an untruthful man to come to a good end.

The silver-leaved birch retains in its old age a soft bark; there are some such men.

Liberty is from God; liberties, from the devil.

With hat in hand, one gets on in the world.

The world is the same everywhere.

Discontent is the source of all trouble,but also of all progress, in individuals and nations.

We consider it tedious to talk of the weather, and yet there is nothing more important.

Being alone when one’s belief is firm, is not to be alone.

What will people say-in these words lies the tyranny of the world, the whole destruction of our natural disposition, the oblique vision of our minds. These four words hold sway everywhere.

Years teach us more than books.

Gratitude is a soil on which joy thrives.

If you sound great in the practice room, you’re practicing the wrong thing. Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.

All men are selfish, but the vain man is in love with himself. He admires, like the lover his adored one, everything which to others is indifferent.

Of all afflictions, the worst is self contempt.

Some men, like modern shops, hang everything in their show windows; when one goes inside, nothing is to be found.

I remember I had this recurring dream that we were playing a night game and instead of eye black we had mashed up the glowing bodies of fireflies and put that under our eyes. So our faces were glowing – a kind of night vision.

By the end of the first decade of writing, I considered myself a confirmed failure in the eyes of the world.

The problem with working with a record label is they maybe a song I want to make a video for that they will refuse to make a video for because they don’t see that song as a single. And I found that very frustrating.

You never fight your eye when you look at a hole. If it looks one way, play it that way. Don’t make a big deal out of an easy shot.

Guilt is a timorous thing ere perpetration; despair alone makes guilty men be bold.

The problems of this world are so gigantic that some are paralysed by their own uncertainty.

In sitcoms, the women are so beautiful, understanding and well-bred. They have humor, but sort of display it with a twinkle of the eye and not a guffaw. But there’s no juice in that for me.

Eyes are the greatest tool in film. Mr. Capra taught me that. Sure it’s nice to say very good dialogue, if you can get it. But great movie acting – watch the eyes!