Before you can do something, you must first be something.

Live each day as if your life had just begun.

Correction does much, but encouragement does more.

We do not have to visit a madhouse to find disordered minds; our planet is the mental institution of the universe.

Every day we should hear at least one little song, read one good poem, see one exquisite picture, and, if possible, speak a few sensible words.

The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. Whatever you think you can do, or believe you can do, begin it. Action has magic, power and grace.

Magic is believing in yourself, if you can do that, you can make anything happen.

At the moment of commitment the entire universe conspires to assist you.

Courage is the commitment to begin without any guarantee of success.

If I accept you as you are, I will make you worse; however, if I treat you as though you are what you are capable of becoming, I help you become that.

There is nothing worse than aggressive stupidity.

My Alma mater is the Chicago Public Library.

Wonder, and its expression in poetry and the arts, are among the most important things which seem to distinguish men from other animals, and intelligent and sensitive people from morons.

The condition of being forgiven is self-abandonment. The proud man prefers self-reproach, however painful --because the reproached self isn't abandoned; it remains intact.

PhD, MFA, self-taught - the only things you must have to become a writer are the stamina to continue and a wily, cagey heart in the face of extremity, failure, and success.

If you're spending so much time at the gym that your mail is forwarded there, you're not dedicated - you've got a mental disorder.

I wake up thinking of yesterday. The joy is in remembering; the pain is in knowing it was yesterday.

Entertainment and learning are not opposites; entertainment may be the most effective mode of learning.

Since our greatest need was forgiveness, God sent us a Savior. He became like us, so we could become like Him.

If you're making a movie about the effects of time, you kind of have to engage time as the main character.

Nature alone is antique, and the oldest art a mushroom.