Nothing satisfies an individual incapable of enjoyment.
We get such a kick out of looking forward to pleasures and rushing ahead to meet them that we can’t slow down enough to enjoy them when they come.
In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger – something better, pushing right back.
Life is the sum of your choices.
If nothing had any meaning, you would be right. But there is something that still has a meaning.
There is no shame in preferring happiness.
Sometimes, carrying on, just carrying on, is the superhuman achievement.
But I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.
We can’t learn without pain.
As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.
To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.
I swear, by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.
There is no education like adversity.
Life is too short to be little. Man is never so manly as when he feels deeply, acts boldly, and expresses himself with frankness and with fervor.
A place for everything, everything in its place.
My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.
Money can’t buy life.
Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we’re supposed to be and embracing who we are.
You can choose courage or you can choose comfort, but you can’t have both.
I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness – it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude.