No matter what, don't live a life where you're too scared to die for what you believe in. Always go at it with everything you've got, even if it doesn't seem to be enough.

People fear what they do not understand.

Always hear others out and remain open-minded the day you think you know everything is the day you have the most yet to learn.

The more a mind thinks upon something, the deeper it will take root and affect all subsequent and related thought.

Most physical battles begin once mental ones have been lost, anyway. Conquer the mind, conquer the body.

The mind thinks upon, processes, and remembers what the senses forget.

The lion does not need the whole world to fear him, only those nearest where he roams.

Like tiny gods, all that we say and do holds a power so great that any one of us in any given moment can be responsible for the birth of a new civilization or the collapse of our own.

No army is comprised of all the same kinds of units or types of troops. There is power in diversity. If you always see only one choice, or use only one option, you will surely lose more than you win.

Always think at least two steps ahead [in everything, with everyone].

[Everything you write is] not simply a collection of words, but a means of influence not to be taken lightly. Let your recipient's emotions be the gondola, and your words, its gondolier.

Like Hitler, the President used the word lies to mean statements of fact not to his liking and presented journalism as a campaign against himself.

Two languages in one brain? No one can live at that speed!

But what do you say if you're asked a direct question and you can't tell the truth and you can't tell a lie?' 'You say “how very interesting” and change the subject.

I remember being in the public library and my jaw just aching as I looked around at all those books I wanted to read. There just wasn't time enough to read everything I wanted to read.

There were speeches made in Congress in the very last session before the outbreak of the Rebellion, so ferocious as to show that their authors were under the influence of a real frenzy.

I write books for young adults because I truly connect with them on some very deep level. They are our hope, our future, and inspiring them to be the best they can be is very important to me.

In my case, performance is part of the medium. Sometimes I feel that it's my main medium, and that the presentation of my poems on the page is secondary.

I'm 27. I feel like I get it. I'm OK with being sexy if I feel like it. Some days I'm brainy, some days I'm funny, some days I'm sexy, and sometimes, I just want to dance.

As you've probably discovered, great work makes us uncomfortable.

The higher the standard of education in a profession, the less marked will be the charlatanism.