Books are lighthouses erected in the great sea of time.

Felicity, not fluency of language, is a merit.

Of the three prerequisites of genius; the first is soul; the second is soul; and the third is soul.

Cheerfulness in most cheerful people is the rich and satisfying result of strenuous discipline.

An epigram often flashes light into regions where reason shines but dimly.

Irony is an insult conveyed in the form of a compliment.

God is glorified, not by our groans, but by our thanksgivings.

A thought embodied and embrained in fit words walks the earth a living being.

Dignity is often a veil between us and the real truth of things.

God is glorified, not by our groans, but our thanksgivings; and all good thought and good action claim a natural alliance with good cheer.

Sin, every day, takes out a patent for some new invention.

If we stay where we are, where we're stuck, where we're comfortable and safe, we die there... When nothing new can get in, that's death.

What we can do as individuals may not be very much on the global scale, but we have to start the change by living as we are teaching.

It is the enemy who can truly teach us to practice the virtues of compassion and tolerance.

Back in high school, my buddies tried to put the make on anything that moved. I told them, Why limit yourselves?

Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom.

When it comes to love, too many people are out to lunch.

I never did a thing in all my life, virtuous or otherwise that I didn't repent of within twenty-four hours.

From the moment we walk out the door until we come back home our sensibilities are so assaulted by the world that we have to soak up as much love as we can get, simply to arm ourselves.

Of course, my father was a soccer player. He used to play very good. Then, when I was young, eight or nine years old, ten years old, I just want to be like my father.

The most common human act that writing a novel resembles is lying. The working novelist lies daily, very complexly, and at great length.