But I am I. And I won't subordinate my taste to the unanimous judgment of mankind

Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but sometimes, playing a poor hand well.

Show me a man with a tattoo and I'll show you a man with an interesting past.

You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.

The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.

The most beautiful stories always start with wreckage.

A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry as the dog.

It is so much easier to live placidly and complacently. Of course, to live placidly and complacently is not to live at all.

The Wild still lingered in him and the wolf in him merely slept.

There's only one way to make a beginning, and that is to begin; and begin with hard work, and patience, prepared for all the disappoint­ment s.

I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

They say the eyes are the apertures to the soul. If that is so, I feared Locusta's soul was far darker than even Nero's.

Carefully analyze the old stories that you choose to perpetually tell, for these are really life-long meditations.

Have you been hitting the wine or my mother's brownies again?

I was always spiritual, even as a child. I was taught to pray, show gratitude. We had an attitude of gratitude. Even if life was ugly, bad or sad - we prayed.

Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used against you

I didn't do this for other people; I did this for me. I fought for this right for me - does that sound selfish?

It's vital that the monarchy keeps in touch with the people. It's what I try and do.

QuickBooks - the very fact that we could even dream to make something in the business arena, and that it would then succeed - was a total revolution to me.

Generally, we are united in the belief that all rod design has been progressive and that the ideas about fly rods in the past were so bad as to make it amazing that people were able to fish at all.

Are you aware that rushing toward a goal is a sublimated death wish? It's no coincidence we call them 'deadlines.'