The secret of getting ahead is getting started.
Well done is better than well said.
The wise does at once what the fool does at last.
To know oneself, one should assert oneself.
Never complain and never explain.
Who seeks shall find.
Be gentle to all and stern with yourself.
Leap, and the net will appear.
If you think you can do it, you can.
If you're going through hell, keep going.
I spent many years trying to write a lot like Ben Folds or John Lennon or Rivers Cuomo. I think that's healthy when you're learning to write and seeing how chords fit together and how songs take shape.