“A great teacher is my adversary, my conqueror, commissioned to chastise me.”

— Pat Conroy, The Lords of Discipline (1980)

About Pat Conroy

1945 – 2016

American novelist, author of "The Prince of Tides".

“Bad teachers do not touch me; the great ones never leave me.”

“Always believe in things and people that bring you pleasure.”

“I've never had anybody's approval, so I've learned to live without it.”

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”

“He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“The man who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the man who does not ask is a fool for life.”

“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”