For the entire decade of my 30s and the early part of my 40s, I didn't write a word of fiction. I just left behind a dream of my life.

A true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that is holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life.

I've never seen any life transformation that didn't begin with the person in question finally getting tired of their own bullshit.

Tis' better to live your own life imperfectly than to imitate someone else's perfectly.

Stop wearing your wishbone where your backbone ought to be.

I'm choosing happiness over suffering, I know I am. I'm making space for the unknown future to fill up my life with yet-to-come surprises.

This is a good sign, having a broken heart. It means we have tried for something.

There's always another level up. There's always another ascension. More grace, more light, more generosity, more compassion, more to shed, more to grow.

You were given life; it is your duty (and also your entitlement as a human being) to find something beautiful within life, no matter how slight.

Never forget that once upon a time, in an unguarded moment, you recognized yourself as a friend.

If you're going to answer the call and you're going to transform and you're going to change, get ready. It is not a day at the beach.

My ship had lost crew mates before, yet I sailed on.

One hour of life crowded to the full with glorious action and filled with noble risks is worth whole years of those mean observances of paltry decorum.

Those who cultivate letters must be supplied with the books necessary for their purpose; and until this supply is secured I shall not rest.

Our little systems have their day; They have their day and cease to be… And thou, O Lord, art more than they.

I am worrying about my country. I feel I have a responsibility as a novelist to do something.

A coxcomb is the blockhead's man of merit.

It takes me time to realize things; I'm a speedy person but a slow thinker.

Service is life. No service means, spiritually no life.

I think it's important to remember that by the second half of our lives, we are meant to see in wholes, and no longer just in parts.

The choice is between which mistake is easier to correct: underdoing it or overdoing it.