Most of us don't work out what we want. And most of us end up with lopsided lives as a result.

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.

A culture of unaccountability is a culture without incentive, and a culture without incentive is the death of critical and creative thinking.

I'll live as well, as deeply, as madly as I can--until I die.

The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not ‘get over’ the loss of a loved one

People, generally, are equally insecure. They just show it (or hide it) differently.

After 10 years of French torture - psychological torture - it's great to do an American movie.

Men sometimes think they hate flattery, but they hate only the manner of flattering.

My music comes from country music. Merle Haggard is God, and I do believe that. I'm not too tuned in to country music. I don't know who Brooks and Dunn are. I like Shania Twain, though!

Social security, bank account, and credit card numbers aren't just data. In the wrong hands they can wipe out someone's life savings, wreck their credit and cause financial ruin.

I think it'd be great if Prince made an album of just romantic, slow ballads.

[It] is capable of driving people to such dangerous folly that faith seems to me to qualify as a kind of mental illness.