From a person whose living depends on other people buying her creative work, this may sound odd, but one of my favorite things about the steampunk subculture is its do-it-yourself attitude.

Respect for self is the beginning of cultivating virtue in men and women.

[I]ndeed, one hears, in early Christian theology, as many echoes of Persian dualism as of Hebrew Puritanism or Greek philosophy.

A lump rises in our throat at the sight of beauty from an implicit knowledge that the happiness it hints at is the exception.

That's the main thing you have to have... trust.

Life is a positive-sum game. Everyone from the gold medallist to the last finisher can rejoice in a personal victory.

From now on, match me with one guy at a time.

No music is vulgar, unless it is played in a way that makes it so.

The UN doesn't work in a vacuum.

You only fail if you don't finish the game. If you finish you win. You have to measure what you started out with by what you overcome.

In contrast, traditional Catholic churches serve vast numbers of people who have little or nothing in common, and they are often impersonal supermarkets for the sacraments.