Genuine feelings are never the product of conscious effort. They are quite simply there, and they are there for a very good reason, even if that reason is not always apparent.

The more we idealize the past and refuse to acknowledge our childhood sufferings, the more we pass them on unconsciously to the next generation.

The victimization of children is nowhere forbidden; what is forbidden is to write about it.

What is addiction, really? It is a sign, a signal, a symptom of distress. It is a language that tells us about a plight that must be understood.

Wherever I look, I see signs of the commandment to honor one's parents and nowhere of a commandment that calls for the respect of a child.

For the human soul is virtually indestructible, and its ability to rise from the ashes remains as long as the body draws breath.

The reason why parents mistreat their children has less to do with character and temperament than with the fact that they were mistreated themselves and were not permitted to defend themselves.

Disrespect is the weapon of the weak

All children are born to grow, to develop, to live, to love, and to articulate their needs and feelings for their self-protection

Genuine feelings cannot be produced, nor can they be eradicated. We can only repress them, delude ourselves, and deceive our bodies. The body sticks to the facts.

We don't yet know, above all, what the world might be like if children were to grow up without being subjected to humiliation, if parents would respect them and take them seriously as people.

Bad memories were hard enough, but it was torture to be haunted by the good.

Living on the water took away the boundaries created by land and custom and introversion. Without fences and driveways, the water provided a constant thread of connection and dependency.

The industry cannot long offer unneeded or overpriced insurance if people will not buy it.

Your love is the ultimate love that empowers all your efforts, a true love for what is indestructibly and perpetually you.

Without new ideas success can become stale

People screw me over with words, so I screw them over with songs.

If you want to get peace, you can get it as soon as you like if we all pull together. ... Think peace, live peace, and breathe peace and you'll get it as soon as you like.

Write about what you know, and what do you know better than your own secrets?

In a contest between me and a bulldog, you would say the bulldog is cuter.