I've Learned Quotes

I think the most that I've learned has been, how do I put this? The innate goodness inside of all of us.

As a man, I've learned that there is nothing easier in married life than pleasing your wife with your cooking.

I've learned that social media and our private lives, you know, our private lives are not so private anymore, so it takes a little bit of getting used to.

And that's what I've learned too: writing is key.

I think that I've learned to relax, and trust in and hire very talented people, and trust in their abilities a little more.

But here's what I've learned in this war, in this country, in this city: to love the miracle of having been born.

If I've learned nothing else, it's that time and practice equal achievement.

Everything is true and not true about everything. That’s one thing I’ve learned.

I've learned never to close my mind to an idea simply because it seems miraculous.

I've learned... That love, not time, heals all wounds.

I've learned much, Father, and this above all: that no station in life is above any other, if it's occupied by someone with a good heart.

I encourage the translators of my books to take as much license as they feel that they need. This is not quite the heroic gesture it might seem, because I've learned, from working with translators over the years, that the original novel is, in a way, a translation itself.

I've learned that in the theater the story is everything. Every lyric, every line and every musical gesture has to propel the journey of a given character or the overall plot.

The biggest lesson I've learned by living abroad for the last four years is the importance of communication.

I've learned so much from my professors and have been fortunate to have had so many good ones, including Frederick and Steven Barthelme, Edward Carey, Jim Magnuson, and Elizabeth McCracken.

I've evolved enough that I've learned to not subject others to the fallout of my own unhappiness. I think that's a significant, hard-won behavioral leap that, sadly, a staggering percent of the population of folks I know haven't quite mastered.

The most important lesson I've learned from sports is how to be not only a gracious winner, but a good loser as well. Not everyone wins all the time, as a matter of fact, no one wins all the time. Winning is the easy part, losing is really tough. But, you learn more from one loss than you do from a million wins. You learn a lot about sportsmanship.

I think that if you're creating an environment completely or...in my research, what I've learned is that if it's a CG world or a lot of visual effects, you're almost better doing that in post.

As a street artist, I'm used to sharing my stuff with the public. It's a communal experience. I've learned not to be so precious, but rather to enjoy the process.

Most people fear pain. I've learned that not feeling pain is a much more frightening proposition than feeling it. In fact, there are times when I'm playing when I actually enjoy it.

When I was younger, I dreaded having to write. I would find every possible excuse not to sit down at the typewriter (this was a long time ago). As I've gotten older, I've learned to enjoy putting sentences together, though I still believe that writing, unlike sex, is always better after you're through.

When you present works of art, one thing I've learned is that if you're lucky - [Laughs] - there will be those few people who, shall we say, get it? Really become engaged, become moved by it in their own way. You cannot control what other people are going to think about it.

You have to enable and empower people to make decisions independent of you. As I've learned, each person on a team is an extension of your leadership; if they feel empowered by you they will magnify your power to lead.

I've learned over time that every editor has told me when you're getting that much hate, you don't talk about it. You just kind of don't give it oxygen and let it go away. It's almost - not always, but almost - always the best policy.

And as a young black man, a lot of my professors would really think that it was useful to see the work of politically oriented, positivistic, leftist creative works. And I found it incredibly useful. And I found it something that I've learned from and gained from.

I think it's easiest to teach by example. My dad didn't tell us to work hard; we just saw how hard he worked. I know I have shortcomings - like a short fuse - but I've learned you can't come home from a long day of work and snap at the kids.

Walking my dogs twice a day provides me with an opening and closing of my day, and I've learned to use those walks for a walking meditation.

Walking my dogs twice a day provides me with an opening and closing of my day, and I've learned to use those walks for a walking meditation, which had never occurred to me until a friend gave me Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn years ago. It helped me take advantage of moments that already existed in my day and turn them into something more expansive.

The most important question in American cinema, I've learned, is 'When is lunch?'

Everyone is always telling me that I must be exhausted, but I've learned how to use my time well, and that includes holidays to recharge. I always try to give myself big chunks of time to think about what the next project is going to be.

In my relationship with God, I've learned that if I follow a 'formula' for how I spend my time with Him, then I'm just accomplishing a checklist of things I feel obligated to do to please Him. This makes my spiritual life more about doing what I need to do to fulfill an obligation than something meaningful.

I've learned just how much capacity for love a heart has. You can't believe it. I couldn't believe after having my first that I could ever love anything as much as him. And then when I had my daughter - your heart just expands. There's so much room in it. It's been a nuts, chaotic mess and I love it.

What's changed? I'm a dad. That's fundamental. Watching your kids grow, you go back a bit. You can watch a bug crawling around for minutes at a time--just sit and marvel at its complexity, the utter bugness of it. I've learned to do that again.

Let's say I've directed that [writing] energy into writing my latest book but suddenly, I really want to write about an onion. I don't say to myself, "No, you have stay on the subject," because I know that the longer I stay on the subject the more boring I get. So, if my mind wants to write about an onion, it might be a deeper way to go into what I'm working on, even though it might seem irrelevant. This is how I've learned to follow my mind.

I've learned to deal with stress much better now, things don't bother me in the way that they once used to.

I think I've learned that if you want to be successful, you have to tell your story honestly and from your heart - and I think a healthy sense of humor doesn't hurt either.

I've learned you can make a mistake and the whole world doesn't end. I had to learn to allow myself to make a mistake without becoming defensive and unforgiving.

Just be you. I've learned the hard way and in the end, some people are just so full of hate that no matter what you say or do, they'll always have something to say.

I've learned that you simply can't control those bad vibes.

I've learned that some broken things stay broken, and I've learned that you can get through bad times and keep looking for better ones, as long as you have people who love you.

No matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.

I've learned... that everyone you meet deserves to be greeted with a smile.

I've learned to listen in all aspects of life, in all relationships and communications. The biggest lesson is to listen.

In regards to my artistry, I've learned the importance of being vulnerable.

I've learned... That having a child fall asleep in your arms is one of the most peaceful feelings in the world.

I've learned to take jobs as an actress that is meaningful to me because I've never taken a job for the money.

I've learned to judge of men by their own deeds; I do not make the accident of birth The standard of their merit.

I've learned to develop a thick skin, but you're bound to be affected when you read something bad about yourself in the paper and it's rubbed in your face over and over.

If you read something bad about yourself and it stings you, I've learned that somewhere that's a judgment I'm holding about myself, so I'll try to work through that.

People think that a liar gains a victory over his victim. What I’ve learned is that a lie is an act of self-abdication, because one surrenders one’s reality to the person to whom one lies, making that person one’s master, condemning oneself from then on to faking the sort of reality that person’s view requires to be faked…The man who lies to the world, is the world’s slave from then on…There are no white lies, there is only the blackest of destruction, and a white lie is the blackest of all.