A flower does not lose its beauty because it grew on concrete.

A genuine smile is one of the world’s rarest treasures.

A fish that is afraid of drowning in a river is ignorant of its gifts.

A diamond earns its sparkle from the pressure it endures.

It is in the storm, not the calm, that a rainbow is born.

A determined seed cannot be hidden from the world, not even by dirt.

Calm skies don't make skillful eagles.

If you cry in the rain, only the sky will see your tears.

Birds keep singing beautiful songs, even if they have no audience.

Today's storms help you appreciate tomorrow’s sunshine.

Train the ears to hear more, the eyes to see more, the hands to do more, the feet to accomplish more, the mind to think more, the heart to feel more, and the soul to love more.

It really is a choice between division or unity, between an economy that works for everyone or one that is stacked for those at the top, between strong, steady leadership or a loose cannon.

Lack of education turns soldiers into killing machines.

[I like] Victor Jara and the music of Chile, and the social movement in Chile.

An artist's career doesn't happen in the cycle of one week of news. An artist's career happens in a lifetime, and if you're a true artist you're willing to die for what you believe in.

When you're connected to the ocean, you really don't think about what's going on with your email or texts or any of that. You're just a lot more liberated.

I'm loyal to my thoughts, to my friends. This is what I really like the best. Loyalty. Sounds goody-goody. Maybe that's not the one you wanted.

Scar Tissue is the only book Ive ever written when Ive felt completely toxic, ill.

Hearing loss is a terrible thing because it cannot be repaired.

The speed with which bureaucracy has invaded almost every branch of human activity is something astounding once one thinks about it.

The boats outside the window were always still I wondered if one of them would take me to the ocean.