Be wise with speed; a fool at forty is a fool indeed.

How blessings brighten as they take their flight.

Too low they build who build below the skies.

A soul without reflection, like a pile Without inhabitant, to ruin runs.

Narcissus is the glory of his race: For who does nothing with a better grace?.

How poor, how rich, how abject, how august, How complicate, how wonderful, is man!... Midway from nothing to the Deity!

Early, bright, transient, chaste as morning dew, She sparkled, was exhaled, and went to heaven.

The clouds may drop down titles and estates, and wealth may seek us, but wisdom must be sought.

Where boasting ends, there dignity begins.

Who lives to Nature, rarely can be poor ; who lives to fancy, never can be rich.

Leisure is pain; take off our chariot wheels; how heavily we drag the load of life!

Inspiring someone else to follow their dreams is the hope of anyone who has the courage to follow their own.

I'm always making a comeback but nobody ever tells me where I've been.

Whenever I wrote songs - particularly back then - it would always be for a particular artist.

It is better to be a slave to your beloved woman than a free man to the unloved one.

Wasting time is worse than death, because death separates you from this world whereas wasting time separates you from Allah

There are things that have to be forgotten if you want to go on living.

I try to get as close to a childlike level as possible because we were all artists back then.

Every day is just a time to learn about yourself and learn about the world and that's how I feel all the time.

Good places for aphorisms: in fortune cookies, on bumper stickers, and on banners flying over the Palace of Free Advice.

Great pressure is put on kids who don't have dads to get out and make money, and make life easier for everybody. It was always, 'Hurry up, grow up, make money, there's no man to do it for us.'