But I marvel when I observe these men setting themselves up as instructors of youth who cannot see that they are applying the analogy of an art with hard and fast rules to a creative process

Regard as your most faithful friends, not those who praise everything you say or do, but those who criticize your mistakes.

Of all our possessions, wisdom alone is immortal.

Always when you are about to say anything, first weigh it in your mind; for with many the tongue outruns the thought.

Be gracious to all men, but choose the best to be your friends.

If you be a lover of instruction, you will be well instructed.

We should not call a city happy because it attracts masses of citizens from everywhere; a fortunate city is one in which the race of the original inhabitants is best preserved.

Guard yourself against accusations, even if they are false; for the multitude are ignorant of the truth and look only to reputation.

Conduct yourself towards your parents as you would have your children conduct themselves towards you.

Spend your leisure time in cultivating an ear attentive to discourse, for in this way you will find that you learn with ease what others have found out with difficulty.

Oratory is good only if it has the qualities of fitness for the occasion, propriety of style, and originality of treatment, while in the case of letters there is no such need whatsoever.

There is no organ inside our body that does not serve a vital purpose

And she tried the high heels but she couldn't bring herself to prance.

He missed an invaluable opportunity to hold his tongue.

The Bible's the greatest book ever written. But I sure don't need anybody I can buy for six bits and a chew of tobacco to explain it to me.

Daddy, look — one of the gnomes actually bit me!

I'd be really interested in making a dramatic, low-key 3D film.

That's my dream job, to be able to mail songs out to people who want to hear them. Paste my face on them and not travel all over the world trying to sell them.

But with nonfiction, the task is very straightforward: Do the research, tell the story

Upon retiring, sleep as if you had entered your last sleep. Upon awakening, leave your bed behind you instantly as if you had cast away a pair of old shoes.

When I see someone I think is cool, he's a pretty well-adjusted individual. He's not too affected one way or the other by what's happening, no matter what's going through his mind.