In order to live the life we desire, and set the intention for greater happiness and more meaningful connections with others, we have to release the hold that our past has on us
Chaos and intensity are no substitute for lasting love, nor are they necessarily an improvement on real life.
When you go along in life and develop whatever notoriety you do, people begin to relate to you differently, and I'm just always most comfortable with the people I grew up with.
One genuine new relationship is worth a fistful of business cards.
Oh, my God, I literally only have, like, one friend that I'm actually completely, like, myself with.
Connecting with the people who are meant to be part of your own North Star is much more important than any aspect of business. It's the essence of happiness, the full realization of your potential for joy.
Only equals make friends, every other relationship is contrived and off balance.
When I'm getting to know someone, I look for someone who has passions that I respect, like his career. Someone who loves what he does is really attractive. In high school, I used to think it was "like sooooo cool" if a guy had an awesome car. Now none of that matters. These days I look for character and honesty and trust.
Much of the work of midlife is to tell the difference between those who are dealing with their issues through you and those who are really dealing with you.
It is better to fall in with crows than with flatterers; for in the one case you are devoured when dead, in the other case while alive.
I'd rather have friends who care than friends who agree with me.
You can't really control how people are going to feel about you; all you can really do is be yourself. Because if you seduce somebody, and you seduce them by pretending to be a certain way, once they are seduced they are going to find that you are not that way. And then you have to maintain an image that's not real, so you really screw yourself. The best is to be yourself and hope they like you.
Meeting people in a genuine way and feeling like there is a vital and meaningful connection going on makes me come alive.
I'm not interested in playing the field and all that stuff because frankly I'm not into frivolous relationships. I've got a couple close relationships with friends, a close relationship with my family, and a close relationship with my guitar. I'll know if the right person comes along, and whatever then - cool - but it's not something I'm seeking out at the moment.
I want people to like me but not at my expense.
Friends such as we desire are dreams and fables, yet we never quite give up the hope of finding them.
What people really need and demand from life is not wealth, comfort, or esteem, but games worth playing
Choose love not in the shallows but in the deep.
I don't hang out with the glitteringly successful people; I hang out with people who've been friends for many years, and to some extent I feel my worldly success is a bit uncomfortable for them.
You must remember to love people and use things, rather than to love things and use people.
We think sometimes we're only drawn to the good, but we're actually drawn to the authentic. We like people who are real more than those who hide their true selves under layers of artificial niceties
I'm not interested in what they have to say. I'm only interested in people that are interested in me for the right reasons.
Beauty—or the desire to be beautiful—is in itself a dangerous motivation. Someone (I forgot who) once said, ‘Does the person who loves someone for their beauty really love them?’ So don’t focus on beauty ... a respectable appearance is sufficient to make people more interested in your soul. It is the sum of our experiences that makes us interesting, and having been through a time in your life in which you were in a bad place (or what you perceived as a bad place) physically, can be useful. It can even be necessary.
To create is not to deform or invent persons and things. It is to tie new relationships between persons and things which are, and as they are.
In relations with people, as in art, if you always stick to style, manners, and what will work, and you're never caught off guard, then some beautiful experiences never happen.
