Without hard work, nothing grows but weeds.
It's always too early to quit.
Either you run the day or the day runs you.
Know or listen to those who know.
Never complain and never explain.
Be thine own palace, or the world's thy jail.
If you're going through hell, keep going.
Do not weep do not wax indignant. Understand.
Quality is not an act, it is a habit.
Things do not happen. Things are made to happen.
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.