A multitude of rulers is not a good thing. Let there be one ruler, one king.

If a man insisted always on being serious, and never allowed himself a bit of fun and relaxation, he would go mad or become unstable without knowing it.

Men trust their ears less than their eyes.

The secret of success is that it is not the absence of failure, but the absence of envy.

Adversity has the effect of drawing out strength and qualities of a man that would have laid dormant in its absence.

In peace sons bury fathers, but war violates the order of nature, and fathers bury sons.

Egypt is the gift of the Nile.

Where wisdom is called for, force is of little use.

Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest do not happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.

It is better to be envied than pitied.

All of life is action and passion, and not to be involved in the actions and passions of your time is to risk having not really lived at all.

You cannot conceive, nor can I, of the appalling strangeness of the mercy of God.

Vegan is just pure love. Love for animals, love for the planet, and love for yourself.

Arrows of hate have been aimed at me too, but they have never hit me, because somehow they belonged to another world with which I have no connection whatsoever.

I don't like to work with assistants. I'm already one too many; the camera alone would be enough.

The habit of building houses upon piles, which was first forced upon the people by the position they had chosen, was afterwards followed as a matter of taste, just as it is in Holland.

First we must understand that there can be no life without risk - and when our center is strong, everything else is secondary, even the risks.

Unbelief puts our circumstance between us and God, but faith puts God between us and our circumstances.

Treat each guitar track-and each song-completely different. For example, if I'm using a certain amp and guitar on one track, I'll deliberately use something else for the next tune or overdub.

If you spent one-tenth of the time you devoted to distractions like chasing women or making money to spiritual practice, you would be enlightened in a few years.

At times when I didn't have records out, the press has really kept me out there. My bad reputation has done wonderful things for me!