"You always have to work to become a better singer, songwriter and performer."

“I think to the degree writers are serious, there is a greater tendency for them to write to themselves, because they're trying to compose their own thoughts. They are trying to find out what is in their minds, which is the great mystery. Finding out who you are, what is in your head, and what kind of companion you are to yourself in the course of life. I do think people have very profound lives of which they say virtually nothing.”

“See who is the doubter, who is the thinker. It is the ego. Hold it; the other thoughts will die away - the ego will be left pure. See the source from where the ego arises and abide in it. That is pure consciousness.”

“The government will take from the 'haves' and give to the 'have nots.' Both have lost their freedom. Those who 'have', lost their freedom to give voluntarily of their own free will and in the way the desire. Those who 'have not,' lost their freedom because they did not earn what they received. They got 'something for nothing,' and they will neither appreciate the gift nor the giver of the gift.”

“I've discovered that rejections are not altogether a bad thing. They teach a writer to rely on his own judgment and to say in his heart of hearts, 'To hell with you.'”

“Man is the only creature we know, that, when the term of his natural life is ended, leaves the memory of himself behind him.”

Source : William Godwin (1831). “Thoughts on Man, His Nature, Productions, and Discoveries: Interspersed with Some Particulars Respecting the Author”, p.73

“We live in an age when unnecessary things are our only necessities.”

“The next time you and somebody are in an elevator alone, give them the creepiest stare followed by the creepiest smile ever. While they're leaving, give them a crazy laugh and say, 'It was a meet to pleasure you'.”

“My mind swirled with memories of the life I had led. The constant struggle to keep up appearances, the pretenses, the smiles that had been met with tears. The long sleepless nights, the loneliness that cloaked my spirit and turned me into a true ghost.”

Source : Anchee Min (2004). “Empress Orchid”, Wheeler Publishing, Incorporated