Without a purpose nothing should be done.

The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.

Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.

It never ceases to amaze me: we all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinions than our own.

You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.

The opinion of 10,000 men is of no value if none of them know anything about the subject.

If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.

Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?

The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.

Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.

Being asked one day what was the surest way of remaining happy in this world the Emperor Sigismund of Germany replied: "Only do in health what you have promised to do when you were sick."

All the past has done is generated the you that you are now. Dwelling on the past isn't going to change anything.

Morale is the state of mind. It is steadfastness and courage and hope.

The strongest continuous thread in America's political tradition is skepticism about government.

The most satisfying and ecstatic faith is almost purely agnostic. It trusts absolutely without professing to know at all.

The primary use of knowledge is for such guidance of conduct under all circumstances as shall make living complete. All other uses of knowledge are secondary.

My mother implanted in me as a young girl...you can either be an actor in your own life, or a reactor in somebody else's.

Truth is, every writer has to be a good editor, and you have to edit yourself. It's a skill every writer has to acquire.

I think that as human beings we tend to compartmentalize, and we have a selective morality based on the situation we're in.

I had a totally normal relationship with my body.