To protect themselves, the weak focus on the "bad" in people. Conversely, the strong, who fear little, focus on the "good".
Writers are always critical of themselves and I'm no exception. I always feel that maybe I could have done better.
I'm more comfortable revealing myself than hiding behind metaphors. I respond to artists who reveal something of themselves.
Poor speakers create an artificial divide between themselves and the audience. They feel they need to do this in order to establish their own credibility.
Nobody thinks of themselves as sexy, really. Some days you go, 'Hey, I'm not going too bad today.' But if you try and be sexy, you'll never be sexy.
So, these political activities will create friction in and of themselves, and in this environment of friction there'll be additional violence.
The most violent appetites in all creatures are lust and hunger; the first is a perpetual call upon them to propagate their kind, the latter to preserve themselves.
Talent is a faucet. When it is on, one must write. Inspiration is a farce that poets have invented to give themselves importance.
People pay for what they do, and still more for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it very simply; by the lives they lead.
Basically if you burst into my office the walls themselves will flutter as if alive - maybe that's the reason for all the wings in 'Pure.'
Let others pride themselves about how many pages they have written; I'd rather boast about the ones I've read.
Don't live vicariously through your kids or try to shape them into who you wanted to be, like the popular kid or an athlete. Children should be given the opportunity to be themselves.
You never can truly help people by helping them, but you can help people by teaching them how to help themselves.
There are many selfish people who are extremely original, then they take those pure ideas and use them to raise themselves up, that is an insincere move.
160 million-plus people call themselves Christians. They go to church once a month at least. That's a lot of people.
Nothing will ruin the country if the people themselves will undertake its safety; and nothing can save it if they leave that safety in any hands but their own.
All girls are beautiful, and when they say they're ugly they only lie to themselves, for it's impossible for them to be ugly.
People who are mean or unkind or rigid - think about it - cannot laugh at themselves. If we can't laugh at ourselves and the human condition, we're going to be mean.
Have you seen 'American Idol' lately? I'm sure that some kids somewhere at this moment are thrashing themselves silly over what they call 'Rock n' Roll.'
We all know of families who have obligated themselves for more than they could pay. There is a world of heartache behind such cases.
The vast majority of Americans, at all coordinates of the economic spectrum, consider themselves middle class; this is a deeply ingrained, distinctly American cognitive dissonance.
