„I have never spent a day in my adult life where I didn't learn something“

„My life has a mysterious purpose that I don't understand, and day by day, conflict by conflict, I learn by going where I have to go.“

—  Dean Koontz American author 1945

Source: Odd Interlude: A Special Odd Thomas Adventure

„I spent my life learning to feel less.
Every day I felt less.
Is that growing old? Or is it something worse?
You can not protect yourself from sadness without protecting yourself from happiness.“

—  Jonathan Safran Foer, book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Oskar's grandmother to his grandfather after she told him of her pregnancy.
"My Feelings" (p. 180)
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2005)

„As for the matter of my judicial philosophy, I didn't have one- and didn't want one. A philosophy that is imposed from without instead of arising organically from day-to-day engagement with the law isn't worth having. Such a philosophy runs the risk of becoming an ideology, and I'd spent much of my adult life shying away from abstract ideological theories that served only to obscure the reality of life as it's lived.“

—  Clarence Thomas Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States 1948

Page 238
2000s, (2008)

„This is what I wanted. This guy. This life. This me. I was never getting my old life back, and I didn't care. I was happy. I was safe. I was right where I wanted to be.“

—  Kelley Armstrong, The Reckoning

Source: The Reckoning

„When thou was a player, I didn't expect my teammates to play the way I did. I did expect them to work hard hard every day and get better. And I never learned anything by losing.“

—  Larry Bird basketball player and coach 1956

Don Wade (October 18, 1997) "A Bird on the Bench is Worth 12,252 In Roberts Stadium Seats", The Evansville Courier, p. C1.

„It was one of the best days of my life, a day during which I lived my life and didn't think about my life at all.“

—  Jonathan Safran Foer, book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Source: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

„Everything I learned in my life, I learned because I decided to try something new.“

—  David Lynch American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor 1946

„What I have learned in this life is you can never be ashamed of where you come from.“

—  Tyler Perry American actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, producer, author, and songwriter 1966

„I think a life in music is a life beautifully spent and this is what I have devoted my life to.“

—  Luciano Pavarotti Italian operatic tenor 1935 - 2007

Penso che una vita per la musica sia una vita spesa bene ed è a questo che mi sono dedicato.
As quoted at a tribute page on his official website, lucianopavarotti.com (September 2007) http://www.lucianopavarotti.com

„I have spent all my life resisting the desire to end it.“

—  Franz Kafka, book Letters to Milena

Source: Letters to Milena

„The long hours spent with them in the forest have enriched my life beyond measure. What I have learned from them has shaped my understanding of human behavior, of our place in nature.“

—  Jane Goodall British primatologist, ethologist, and anthropologist 1934

Referring to chimpanzees, reported in Jane Goodall: Primatologist and Animal Activist (2009) by Connie Jankowski, p. 13

„I guess I should have written two books of my life, one for the adults and another for the kids.“

—  Babe Ruth American baseball player 1895 - 1948

Speaking shortly before his death, as quoted in "Sports of the Times: Down Memory Lane with the Babe" by Arthur Daley, The New York Times ((August 18, 1948), p. 32

„I spent my entire career in business, and was fortunate to experience success. Essential to my success, however, was the fact that I was engaged in the larger world around me as a curious person who wanted to learn. I did not rely only on business perspectives. In fact, it was a drive to understand and enjoy life -- and be connected to something larger than myself in my love of reading, learning, and in my case, studying and learning about Judaism -- that allows me, at 84, to see my life as fully rounded.“

—  Edgar Bronfman, Sr. Canadian-American businessman 1929 - 2013

http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2013/10/17/liberal-arts-are-best-preparation-even-business-career-essay

„I've lived most of my entire adult life outside the law, and never have I compromised with authority. But neither have I gone out and picked fights with authority. That's stupid.“

—  Tom Robbins, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1976)
Context: I set an example. That's all anyone can do. I'm sorry the cowgirls didn't pay better attention, but I couldn't force them to notice me. I've lived most of my entire adult life outside the law, and never have I compromised with authority. But neither have I gone out and picked fights with authority. That's stupid. They're waiting for that; they invite it; it helps keep them powerful. Authority is to be ridiculed, outwitted and avoided. And it's fairly easy to do all three. If you believe in peace, act peacefully; if you believe in love, acting lovingly; if you believe every which way, then act every which way, that's perfectly valid — but don't go out trying to sell your beliefs to the system. You end up contradicting what you profess to believe in, and you set a bum example. If you want to change the world, change yourself.

„I see people giving me looks because I'm so opinionated. That hurts my feelings, but at the end of the day I have to live with me and respect myself. And I've done enough things in my life where I was confused and didn't respect myself that I will not do it any more.“

—  Sherilyn Fenn American actress 1965

Sherilyn Fenn, quoted in "'Three of Hearts' may be Fenn's winning card", by Nancy Mills. Boston Herald (USA). April 25, 1993. p. 41

„School, I never truly got the knack of. I could never focus on things I didn't want to learn.“

—  Leonardo DiCaprio American actor and film producer 1974

http://www.flixster.com/actor/leonardo-di-caprio/leonardo-dicaprio-quotes

„I consider myself British and have very happy memories of the UK. I spent the first 14 years of my life in England and never wanted to leave. When I was in Australia I went back to England a lot.“

—  Naomi Watts British actress and film producer 1968

[Watts turns back on Australia, April 24 2007, http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,21607413-5006002,00.html, The Daily Telegraph, 2007-04-24, https://archive.is/LR0E, 2012-05-29]

„I started learning my lessons in Abbot Texas, where I was born in 1933. My sister Bobbie and I were raised by our grandparents […] We never had enough money, and Bobbie and I started working at an early age to help the family get by. That hard work included picking cotton. […] Picking cotton is hard and painful work, and the most lasting lesson I learned in the fields was that I didn't want to spend my life picking cotton.“

—  Willie Nelson American country music singer-songwriter. 1933

[The Tao of Willie: A Guide to the Happiness in Your Heart, 10, Nelson, Willie; Pipkin, Turk, 159240197X, 2006, Gotham]

„That quotation about not having time to stand and stare has never applied to me. I seem to have spent a good part of my life - probably too much - in just standing and staring and I was at it again this morning.“

—  James Herriot veterinary surgeon and writer 1916 - 1995

Source: It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet