Any fool can paint a picture, but it takes a wise man to be able to sell it.

Life is like playing a violin solo in public and learning the instrument as one goes on.

Human life is as evanescent as the morning dew or a flash of lightning.

If I die prematurely at any rate I shall be saved from being bored to death by my own success.

Life is like music; it must be composed by ear, feeling, and instinct, not by rule.

Creativity is so delicate a flower that praise tends to make it bloom, while discouragement often nips it in the bud.

Don't learn to do, but learn in doing.

Fear is static that prevents me from hearing myself.

The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too.

People care more about being thought to have taste than about being thought either good, clever or amiable.

Let us be grateful to the mirror for revealing to us our appearance only.

The study of the past is the main portal through which culture is acquired.

Our primary health care should begin on the farm and in our hearts, and not in some laboratory of the biotech and pharmaceutical companies.

I'm not the sort to wallow in nostalgia about the good old days.

If we can't face death, we'll never overcome it. You have to look it straight in the eye. Then you can turn around and walk back out into the light.

At DePauw, I was teaching writing and fiction. The things I wanted to teach, more than anything else, were form and theory of the novel, of narrative. I liked those classes.

At the ballet, you really feel like you're in the presence of something outside the rest of your life. Higher than the rest of your life.

One of the most important branches of the Egyptian economy is tourism. No bikinis, no tourism. So they have to decide what to do.

The intelligent are to the intelligentsia what a gentleman is to a gent.

When you're indie and you have your hands on yourself and you're not working for someone, you're working with someone and you're dealing with them, it's a totally different feeling involved.

In doing your work in the great world, it is a safe plan to follow a rule I once heard on the football field: Don't flinch, don't fall; hit the line hard.