Compassion doesn't have to be weak or enabling; it can also be quite bold.

I tend to foster drama via bleakness. If I want the reader to feel sympathy for a character, I cleave the character in half, on his birthday. And then it starts raining. And he's made of sugar.

What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness.

What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness. Those moments when another human being was there, in front of me, suffering, and I responded . . . sensibly. Reservedly. Mildly.

Do those things that incline you toward the big questions, and avoid the things that would reduce you and make you trivial.

Developing our sympathetic compassion is not only possible but the only reason for us to be here on earth.

According to me, your life is going to be a gradual process of becoming kinder and more loving. Hurry up. Speed it along. Start right now.

It's a big world, and I really like it.

Character is that sum total of moments we can't explain.

The generalizing writer is like the passionate drunk, stumbling into your house mumbling: I know I'm not being clear, exactly, but don't you kind of feel what I'm feeling?

Kindness, it turns out, is hard - it starts out all rainbows and puppy dogs, and expands to include . . . well, EVERYTHING.

Success is most often achieved by those who don't know that failure is inevitable.

A person with victim mentality cannot find himself, his life mission, and go towards his aims

I heard the old, old, men say 'all that's beautiful drifts away, like the waters.

A poem can have an impact, but you can't expect an audience to understand all the nuances.

If we learn more than the doctor in areas of value to our health, it is our duty to apply this knowledge to the betterment of ourselves and our families.

I do not read the ancient languages, but I am beginning to study Greek.

She is inhumanly alone. And then, all at once, she isn't.

The more I work, the more I want to work.

I doubt if there is one married person on earth who can be objective about divorce. It is always a threat, admittedly or not, and such a dire threat that it is almost a dirty word.

Be careful not to compromise what you want most for what you want now.