Character, not passion keeps marriages together long enough to do their work of raising children into mature, responsible, productive citizens.

Bad marriages don't cause infidelity; infidelity causes bad marriages.

The secret to having a good marriage is to understand that marriage must be total, it must be permanent, and it must be equal.

Love is not something people feel, but something people try to express no matter how they feel.

The more things we can laugh about, the more alive we become: The more things we can laugh about together, the more connected we become.

Fidelity is the single most important element in solidly enduring marriages.

Marriage, like a submarine, is only safe if you get all the way inside.

Fathering makes a man, whatever his standing in the eyes of the world, feel strong and good and important, just as he makes his child feel loved and valued.

Marriage isn't supposed to make you happy - it's supposed to make you married.

Fathering is the most masculine thing a man can do.

Parents can make us distrust ourselves. To them, we seem always to be works-in-progress.

We have gotten so use to humor being something nasty and offensive that we started to believe that was the only way to get a laugh.

Simplicity and humility are the flowers of greatness.

Was... That a "you've been a clever boy" kiss? Or... Uh...

Pain is an old friend who left briefly and has now returned. Starvation without sustenance, I had grown acquaint. Satiety was a stranger who invaded my deepest being, and now I cannot live without.

The spirit of what we do is that you do what you feel and when you feel it and not feel you have to be something you're not: you have to be honest to yourself.

I think it's crucial to live, play and work passionately. I'm inspired by my husband, my son and the sense of possibility in the world.

Two roses on one slender spray In sweet communion grew, Together hailed the morning ray And drank the evening dew.

When you know beyond all doubting that the same life flows through all that is, and you are that life, you will love all naturally and spontaneously.

I cannot even picture myself retiring. What would I do? I'll always be doing something, asking somebody questions, even if there weren't a book.

Larger-than-life characters make up about .01 percent of the world's population.