A tiny fly can choke a big man.

The first step in the acquisition of wisdom is silence, the second listening, the third memory, the fourth practice, the fifth teaching others.

The test of good manners is to be patient with the bad ones.

The beginning of wisdom is to desire it.

Man is wise only while in search of wisdom; when he imagines he has attained it, he is a fool.

Kings may be judges of the earth, but wise men are the judges of kings.

As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.

Plan for this world as if you expect to live forever; but plan for the hereafter as if you expect to die tomorrow.

As long as a word remains unspoken, you are its master; once you utter it, you are its slave.

If you want to keep something concealed from your enemy, don't disclose it to your friend.

There are three types of friends: those like food without which you can't live those like medicine which you need occasionally and those like an illness which you never want.

Sometimes we don't know where we are going until we get there.

To be any sort of competent writer one must keep one's psychological distance from the supreme artists.

Nobody pours stuffing like you do, my friend.

If we spend our days waiting for fabulous roses we could miss the beauty and wonder of the tiny forget-me-nots that are all around us.

I belong to a tradition that believes that the death of a single child is a blemish on creation.

The "difficult" female character can-and will-do the shocking, the unexpected and, as a consequence, will give your story an immediate jolt of energy. She is the character who doesn't fit the mold.

I watch America's Next Top Model in the gym and go, 'If I stay an extra 15 minutes, I will look like that girl!'

The first assistant director is just so important that the choice of that person is critical to the movie.

You know...it's a hard age. Kids are in that stage where they're beginning to understand the world of adults, without having the maturity of adults to deal with everything going on around them.

If I splurge on anything, it's cologne. I love smelling good.