“Music is the shorthand of emotion.”

He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.

Faith is the force of life.

Real wisdom is not the knowledge of everything, but the knowledge of which things in life are necessary, which are less necessary, and which are completely unnecessary to know.

The more is given the less the people will work for themselves, and the less they work the more their poverty will increase.

Rest, nature, books, music – such is my idea of happiness.

Nothing is so necessary for a young man as the company of intelligent women.

Love those you hate you.

Don’t seek God in temples. He is close to you. He is within you. Only you should surrender to Him and you will rise above happiness and unhappiness.

Art lifts man from his personal life into the universal life.

Historians are like deaf people who go on answering questions that no one has asked them.

Spring is the time of plans and projects.

It’s all God’s will: you can die in your sleep, and God can spare you in battle.

In the midst of winter, I find within me the invisible summer.

My piece of bread only belongs to me when I know that everyone else has a share, and that no one starves while I eat.

Pure and complete sorrow is as impossible as pure and complete joy.

If you want to be happy, try only to please God, not people.

I either write the book or sell the jewels. And I’m kinda sentimental about the jewels.

Can we be committed to the process of what we’re doing without being emotionally attached to the results of what we’re doing.

If you asked me now who I am, the only answer I could give with any certainty would be my name. For the rest: my loves, my hates, down even to my deepest desires, I can no longer say whether these emotions are my own, or stolen from those I once so desperately wished to be.

The truth is that creative activity is one that involves the entire self – our emotions, our levels of energy, our characters, and our minds.

Never react emotionally to criticism. Analyze yourself to determine whether it is justified. If it is, correct yourself. Otherwise, go on about your business.

As a viewer, the minute I start getting confused, I check out of the movie. Emotionally, I’m severed.

You are not your emotions.

Emotions are the interaction of thoughts and of sensations in the body.