As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light of meaning in the darkness of mere being.

Everything passes. Nobody gets anything for keeps. And that's how we've got to live.

Life swings like a pendulum backward and forward between pain and boredom.

Last year I sang for the Queen of England, met the president of the United States, and got an Emmy and a star on The Walk of Fame. And what did I do? I was just being myself.

This terrifying world is not devoid of charms, of the mornings that make waking up worthwhile.

Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.

If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you got a problem. Everything else is inconvenience.

All my life I used to wonder what I would become when I grew up. Then, about seven years ago, I realized that I was never going to grow up - that growing is an ever ongoing process.

The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made.

History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.

I really had a lot of dreams when I was a kid, and I think a great deal of that grew out of the fact that I had a chance to read a lot.

To conceal anything from those to whom I am attached, is not in my nature. I can never close my lips where I have opened my heart.

Is it progress if a cannibal uses a fork?

To be able to look back upon ones life in satisfaction, is to live twice.

Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.

Not all things are to be discovered; many are better concealed.

Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.

I never think of the future - it comes soon enough.

Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself.

Dictators ride to and fro upon tigers which they dare not dismount. And the tigers are getting hungry.

Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.