I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.

I'm sorry I wrote you such a long letter; I didn't have time to write a short one.

My mother said to me, 'If you are a soldier, you will become a general. If you are a monk, you will become the Pope.' Instead, I was a painter, and became Picasso.

They alone live, who live for others.

I not only use all the brains that I have, but all that I can borrow.

However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act on upon them?

The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit. The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

A painter should begin every canvas with a wash of black, because all things in nature are dark except where exposed by the light.

Great work requires great and persistent effort for a long time. … Character has to be established through a thousand stumbles.

You can't live a perfect day until you do something for someone who will never be able to repay you.

Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.

The world is the great gymnasium where we come to make ourselves strong.

Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings.

In a day, when you don't come across any problems - you can be sure that you are travelling in a wrong path.

Accept whatever comes to you woven in the pattern of your destiny, for what could more aptly fit your needs?

Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion.

Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't goin' away.

Don't just read the easy stuff. You may be entertained by it, but you will never grow from it.

Above all things, respect yourself.

The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me.