People From Philadelphia

"Belief in God is the single greatest barrier to God in the Universe. It is almost a total barrier to the experience of God. When you think you have experienced God, you haven't. Experiencing God is experiencing God, and that is true religion."

"I take responsibility for ending starvation within twenty years. The Hunger Project is not about solutions. It's not about fixing up the project. It's not about anybody's good idea. The Hunger Project is about creating a context - creating the end of hunger as an idea whose time has come. (Quote from 1977, re: The Hunger Project)"

"You are part of every atom in the world, and every atom is part of you."

"What isn't, isn't. You can't put it together...what you have to do is experience it being together."

"What is, is."

"How do I know I'm not the reincarnation of Jesus Christ?"

"There are only two things in the world — nothing and semantics."

"Transformation does not negate what has gone before; rather, it fulfills it. Creating the context of a world that works for everyone is not just another step forward in human history; it is the context out of which our history will begin to make sense."

"Miracles occur in direct proportion to our willingness to have them."

"Mastering life is the process of moving from where you are to where you want to be."

"I have a lot of respect for L. Ron Hubbard and I consider him to be a genius and perhaps less acknowledged than he ought to be."

"Something experienced is true; the same thing believed is a lie."

"You are god in your own universe. There is no god unless it is self."

"The greatest philosopher of the twentieth century."

"Man keeps looking for a truth to fit his reality. Given our reality, the truth doesn't fit."

"Here is where it is. Now is when it is. You are what it is."

"When my integrity is lacking, I am clear that I just got to be a bit smaller as a person. That keeps me working on my integrity. And the thing about integrity is it’s a mountain with no top."

"If you’re going to be a leader, you’re going to have to have a very loose relationship with this thing you call ‘I’ or ‘me’. Maybe that whole thing in me around which the universe revolves isn’t so central! Maybe life is not about the self but about self-transcendence."

"Here’s my definition of a hero. A hero is an ordinary person given being and action by something bigger than themselves. One thing I’m sure about is I’m real ordinary. Yet I’ve had the chance to touch the lives of a lotta people."

"Until what is significant is created by you, you aren’t living your life, you are living some inherited life."

"Most of our notions about the world come from a set of assumptions which we take for granted, and which, for the most part, we don't examine or question. We bring these assumptions to the table with us as a given. They are so much a part of who we are that it is difficult for us to separate ourselves from them enough to be able to talk about them. We do not think these assumptions, we think from them."

"You and I possess within ourselves, at every moment of our lives and under all circumstances, the power to transform the quality of our lives."

"Inherent in human beings are possibilities which we now can't even entertain. Before the space launch, space travel to many of us was the stuff of fantasy, of science fiction. We know what it is to explore the limits of what we consider to be a human being, but if we were to transform our understanding of ourselves, if we were to transform what we knew a human being to be, new possibilities of expression would open. We could function in a more creative way. In a more humane way. In the past we were transformed by the thrust of evolution or by accidental forces. This time we should transform ourselves with a conscious, committed degree of self-awareness."

"The essential difference between est and Scientology is two-fold. The first has to do with Scientology’s emphasis on survival and its idea that the purpose of life is survival. est sees the purpose of life as wholeness or completion – truth – not survival...The other main difference between est and Scientology lies in the treatment of knowing. Ron Hubbard seems to have no difficulty in codifying the truth and in urging people to believe it. But I suspect all codifications, particularly my own. In presenting my own ideas, I emphasize their epistemological context. I hold them as pointers to the truth, not as the truth itself. I don’t think anyone ought to believe the ideas that we use in est. The est philosophy is not a belief system and most certainly ought not to be believed. In any case, even the truth, when believed, is a lie. You must experience the truth, not believe it."

"… sometime around now, the rules for living successfully on earth shifted, and an opportunity, unseen before, began to reveal itself. This opportunity is a context-a particular space, or way of being-which unexpectedly creates the possibility for a person’s life to truly make a difference. In this context, the way each of us answers the question, ‘What is my life really going to be about?’ can literally alter the course of humanity."

"We can choose to be audacious enough to take responsibility for the entire human family. We can choose to make our love for the world what our lives are really about. Each of us has the opportunity, the privilege, to make a difference in creating a world that works for all of us. It will require courage, audacity and heart. It is much more radical than a revolution – it is the beginning of a transformation in the quality of life on our planet. What we create together is a relationship in which our work can show up as making a difference in people's lives. I welcome the unprecedented opportunity for us to work globally on that which concerns us all as human beings. If not you, who? If not now, when? If not here, where?"

"You and I want our lives to matter. We want our lives to make a real difference — to be of genuine consequence in the world. We know that there is no satisfaction in merely going through the motions in life, even if those motions make us successful or even if we have arranged to make those motions pleasant. We want to know we have had some impact on the world. In fact, you and I want to contribute to the quality of life. We want to make the world work."

"The possibility to create the context in which people’s lives really matter is undoubtedly the most profound opportunity available to anyone, ever."

"Anne Arundel County has become the world’s epicenter of military intelligence and defense-related information technology."

"My obligation is to focus on the priorities of classroom instruction, parental involvement and student safety, targeting student performance and eliminating unnecessary administrative costs."

"A budget must be more than a ledger sheet. It should have a heart and serve as a blueprint for a better quality of life for all residents."

"I should have done violence to my convictions of duty, had I not made use of all the lawful means in my power to liberate those people, and assist them to become men and women, rather than leave them in the condition of chattels personal. I am called an abolitionist, once a name of reproach, but one I am ever proud to be considered worthy of being called."

"I rejoice that I have lived to see this day, when the colored people of this favored land, by law, have equal privileges with the most favored. And I have faith to believe that ere long equal justice will be granted to the poor Indians and the Chinese."

"Friend, I haven't a dollar in the world; but if thee knows a fugitive who needs a breakfast send him to me."

"You can set the bar at seven and a half feet and tell them nobody has every jumped that before. And they say, 'I can do it.' And they'll go out and try."

"When Kobe Bryant died, a piece of me died."

"Give you ice, like Kobe right? We sorta like Goldie right? The way, we mode 'em right? I could make you a celebrity overnight."

"I think Kobe Bryant should be at the top of the (MVP) list. His game is unstoppable."

"Kobe Bryant is the dirtiest player with the things he does on the court... But without a doubt he is a beast. He was amazing."

"He's an unbelievable player. He's God's gift, something that's going to flash before our eyes and I don't think it's ever going to happen again. The only person I can think about he's catching up with is Michael Jordan."

"I've been quoted in the past and I will continue to be quoted; I think he's the best player in our league right now."

"He's definitely the best player in the NBA — to me. I don't know if winning the (MVP) award is important to him or not. But he has three [championship] rings and that's what it's all about."

"To me he is the best player in the world right now. That guy doesn't know fear at all. He doesn't care. He would have won it "Obviously Kobe is an unbelievable player. He can explode for 50 points at any given time. There's nothing we can do about that, and we're just going to have to deal with that. You're never going to stop Kobe. He's just too good. You just have to make him work for what he gets. Kobe is the greatest player I have ever seen at what he does."

"Only God can stop Kobe Bryant."

"I give him all the respect in the world. He is the No. 1 player in the league, by far. It’s like that. With a player like him, he just wants that challenge. He’s just that fierce competitor. He doesn’t want to get out-showed. He’s the one who everybody’s afraid of."

"I can’t believe how fast 20 years went by. I mean, this is crazy… To be standing here, standing on the court with my teammates behind me, and appreciate this journey that we’ve been along… I grew up a die heart—I mean it—a die heart Laker fan. Die heart. I mean, I knew everything about every players’ that had played here. So, to be drafted, and then traded to this organization, and to spend 20 years here, I mean, you can’t write something better than this… The thing that had me crackin’ me up all night long was, in fact, I go though 20 years of everybody screaming, ‘pass the ball!’ and I was like, ‘No passing!’ (laugh)… (I also have to thank) my family: my wife, Vanessa, my daughters, Natalia and Gianna. Thank you guys for your sacrifice… What can I say? Mamba Out!"

"Get over yourself! 'Cause it's not about you, man. Like, okay, you feel embarrassed. You are not that important! Get over yourself! Right, like you are worried about how people may perceive you, and like you are walking around and it's embarrassing because you shot five air balls... Get over yourself."

"When I was young, my mindset was image, image, image. I took that approach with the media. As I became more experienced I realized: No matter what, people are going to like you or not like you. So be authentic, and let them like you or not for who you actually are. At that point, I started keeping all of my answers blunt and straightforward. I would mix in some humor and sarcasm, too. I think fans and reporters came to appreciate that, came to appreciate the real me."

"I remember when I was eight, my friends thought it was a little bit unusual that I was going off to Europe or to Asia, and playing concerts. And they would go to Tower (Records) and see my CD out. So that was a little different! But, I guess they've gotten used to it now, and really could not care less," she asserted. "It's nice because most of my friends are not musicians, and it keeps me grounded."

"(about her concert in North Korea) "The concert was full of government officials. Every single last seat. It was invitation only, but it was an unbelievable experience. Frightening and exhilarating at the same time. And I just thought about how lucky I am. I am so fortunate to be a musician, and at that moment, I genuinely felt that music is the one and only universal language.""