Artistic talent is far more common than the talent to nurture artistic talent.

Quiet people have the loudest minds.

Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.

The water was glassy and calm, still candy-colored in the afterglow of sunset.

A life without love is like a tree without fruit.

The trust of the innocent is the liar's most useful tool.

Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.

Outside, daylight was bleeding slowly toward dusk.

You can't deny laughter; when it comes, it plops down in your favorite chair and stays as long as it wants.

People who try hard to do the right thing always seem mad.

The place where you made your stand never mattered. Only that you were there... and still on your feet.

Get off the treadmill of consumption, replication, and mediocrity. Begin lifting the weights of creativity, originality, and success.

'Peace through Strength' only works if you have and show strength.

I want people to think of Hawaii and think of palm trees and magical islands and Bruno Mars.

If something inspires you, try and hold on to that inspiration because if you lose that inspiration, what do you have left?

I learned jazz; that comes from blues. I learned rock; that comes from blues. I learned pop; that comes from blues. Even dance, that comes from blues, with the answer-and-response.

African Americans have always known that a little bit of paranoia was healthy for us.

Everyone is motivated a little or a lot to do something or nothing. Motivation is the internalized drive toward the dominant thought of the moment. By definition, motivation is "motive in action."

If you want to reach your goals and dreams, you cannot do it without discipline

Who? God. What? He loves you. Where? Everywhere. When? Always, forever, without ceasing. How? Totally, completely. Why? Because you are His child!

I've always made some legendary comebacks since 1998 when it first started. So that's kind of just been my MO for my whole career.