There is no lie that a man will not believe; and there is no man who does not believe many lies; and there is no man who believes only lies.

Instinct is intelligence incapable of self-consciousness.

Pain has its own noble joy, when it starts a strong consciousness of life, from a stagnant one.

Colors answer feeling in man; shapes answer thought; and motion answers will.

One dupe is as impossible as one twin.

The worst education which teaches self-denial, is better than the best which teaches everything else, and not that.

Enthusiasm is grave, inward, self-controlled; mere excitement, outward, fantastic, hysterical, and passing in a moment from tears to laughter.

Emotion turning back on itself, and not leading on to thought or action, is the element of madness.

Faith in a better than that which appears is no less required by art than by religion.

A man without earnestness is a mournful and perplexing spectacle. But it is a consolation to believe, as we must of such a one, that he is the most effectual and compulsive of all schools.

Man is a substance clad in shadows.

The trick is to learn from your mistakes, and have the courage to be true to your heart.

She asked me the definition of beauty. So I told her name in my reply!

I live nearby a graveyard, that's where I get all my inspiration for wisdom and life

No transaction happens unless it is voluntary. It only happens if both of you think you win.

I have my own army in the NYPD, which is the seventh biggest army in the world.

There is a long and interesting tradition of really marginal left-field music that becomes commercially successful. And I will, for a brief minute, fit into that tradition.

I don't teach narrative theory by itself anymore, but I kind of use it when critiquing student manuscripts. So, it works its way in there, whether I like it or not.

In the history of America, we've never had an energy plan. We don't even realize the resources that we have available to us.

I have a large standalone workshop on the back of my property where I prototype and build stuff. It's bright, roomy, and has a giant door so it's easy to bring projects in or out.