Jonathan Safran Foer Quotes

That's a part of me going back to what I used to do.

Character isn't something you were born with and can't change, like your fingerprints. It's something you weren't born with and must take responsibility for forming.

It's very clearly stated in the film: You make your own choices, and what you're always fighting is ego.

You do have to continue, as you grow as a human, checking in and going, 'Is this what I want? Am I giving away things that I don't want? Who am I and what do I want to keep doing?'

Themes of redemption, temptation, and faith don't necessarily apply directly to religion. A lot of people find faith in their lives outside of God and still deal with notions of temptation and redemption that aren't religious.

We all have them, those parts of us that are the greatest parts of us and the worst parts of us. Sometimes we're put in circumstances and bad choices are made.

There is only one real failure in life that is possible, and that is, not to be true to the best one knows.

I learnt one thing in the past or in my life: the only person you can change is yourself, and it has to come from within.

A lot of people are simply interested in exploring their own spirituality, their own values, who they are, whether they're happy where they are.

The thing that surprises me most is, you cannot change who you are.

Every day I have many choices to make about who I want to be.

Most of us actually stifle enough good impulses during the course of a day to change the current of our lives.

Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.

There is only one failure in life possible, and that is not to be true to the best one knows.

There are times when external circumstances can overwhelm us, and we do things we never thought. If you're not aware that this can happen, you can be seduced by evil. We need inoculations against our own potential for evil. We have to acknowledge it. Then we can change it.

Do I get up every morning and ask: am I doing the things that I believe in and am I doing them for the best possible motives? Yes. Unambiguously yes.

I go on the Internet and look at old pictures of myself, because it is the best reminder of how far I have come and where I do not want to be.

Without a musket to raise, a barricade to storm, a flag to wave, the question hit me in the face like the cold air: 'Who am I?'

When you forget everything, there only remains yourself - and that is not enough.

I love my friends and my past, and it's made me who I am.

Make the wise man within you your living ideal.

I think my soul is intact, but my methods of reaching people are completely different.

Anything that changes your values changes your behavior.

Men are limited by the knowledge of their minds, the worth of their characters and the principles upon which they are building their lives.

In our world everybody thinks of changing humanity, and nobody thinks of changing himself.