“Every great man has gone through this shaking while trying to convert their time”

“It is difficult to write a paradiso when all the superficial indications are that you ought to write an apocalypse.”

“You got to insist on your success, resist every obstacle and persist in times of difficulty and you will get there.”

“There’s sometimes a tugging feeling you get to push further when you aren’t being challenged enough or when things get too comfortable.”

“The merit of all things lies in their difficulty.”

“I don’t profess any religion; I don’t think it’s possible that there is a God; I have the greatest difficulty in understanding what is meant by the words ‘spiritual’ or ‘spirituality.'[Interview, The New Yorker, Dec. 26, 2005]”

“Things difficult – almost to impossibility – can always be accomplished. Write that upon your tablets, for it is a valuable truth.”

“It is too difficult to think nobly when one thinks only of earning a living.”

“You have come a long way and have won many battles. Whenever you’re faced with a difficult or challenging situation, you’ll overcome it. Yes, you can.”