He who has not first laid his foundations may be able with great ability to lay them afterwards, but they will be laid with trouble to the architect and danger to the building.

The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves.

Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.

I desire to go to Hell and not to Heaven. In the former I shall enjoy the company of popes, kings and princes, while in the latter are only beggars, monks and apostles

Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage.

A government which does not trust its citizens to be armed is not itself to be trusted.

Men are so stupid and concerned with their present needs, they will always let themselves be deceived.

It is just as difficult and dangerous to try to free a people that wants to remain servile as it is to enslave a people that wants to remain free.

Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good.

A sign of intelligence is an awareness of one's own ignorance.

Power is the pivot on which everything hinges. He who has the power is always right; the weaker is always wrong.

All who die, are all worldly beings (sansari – believing the worldly life to be real).

Patience is to wait for the ice to melt instead of breaking it.

Never allow your thoughts and beliefs to turn you against your true positive self.

When I remove the layers that say I can’t, I discover a burning ember that says I should, I can, and I will.

So I look at a lot of stuff now that I did and some of it looks tame to me, but my interest in terms of what I want to say with it is a little different

Because the soul is like a flower that folds its petals when dark comes, and breathes not its fragrance into the phantoms of the night.

He has no worse enemy than himself.

And then I went into television; and then television moved from the East Coast to Hollywood.

Success requires a persistent misreading of the odds.

It is a socialist idea that making profits is a vice; I consider the real vice is making losses.