Instead of expending time to train yourself not to be afraid of snakes, avoid them altogether.

Strive for excellence in few things, rather than good performance in many.

If we did realize the difference between the vital few and the trivial many in all aspects of our lives, and if we did something about it, we could multiply anything that we valued.

80% of the results come from 20% of the causes. A few things are important; most are not.

The few things that work fantastically well should be identified, cultivated, nurtured, and multiplied.

Hard work leads to low returns. Insight and doing what we want lead to high returns.

To get useful new ideas, we must go beyond our immediate circle and make contact with distant parts of the social system.

The 80/20 principle - that 80 percent of result flow from just 20 per cent of the causes - is the one true principle of highly effective people.

What could you achieve that would make you proud, that no one else could do with the same ease?

It is not shortage of time that should worry us, but the tendency for the majority of time to be spent in low-quality ways.

Celebrate exceptional productivity, rather than raise average efforts.

Like forearm veins, my interests spread in different directions and eventually led to the hands, to writing.

The gift was not large as money goes, and my need was not great, but the spirit of the gift is beyond price and leaves me blessed and in debt.

Take the risk! You find the right road!

My philosophy has always been, do what you love and the money will follow.

To be honest, I think bananas are a pathetic fruit.

Anything that inspires unselfishness makes for our ennoblement. Christmas does that. I am all for Christmas.

The training was rigorous, hundreds and thousands of hours of meditation, self-giving. But it was easy. I loved it. I would merge again and again with the superconscious in meditation.

If you are a really good marathoner, you have to run New York.

Just follow your heart and you'll see no one can love you as much as me.

The thing I am most interested in is power relations - it is so easy in a relationship like that [of an artist and a gallery manager], to imagine that the other person is living a perfect life.