I don’t know why it is that I have always been happier thinking of somewhere I have been or wanted to go, than where I am at the time. I find it difficult to be happy in the present.

Without music, life is a journey through a desert.

It's impossible to explain to a Yankee what 'tacky' is. They simply have no word for it up north, but my God, do they ever need one.

I was born and raised on a Carolina sea island and I carried the sunshine of the low-country, inked in dark gold, on my back and shoulders.

I’ve never had anyone’s approval, so I’ve learned to live without it.

The most powerful words in English are, 'Tell me a story.'

Here is all I ask of a book- give me everything. Everything, and don't leave out a single word.

I stood face to face with the moon and the ocean and the future that spread out with all its bewildering immensity before me.

Good writing ... involves the agony of turning profoundly difficult thoughts into lucid form, then forcing them into the tight-fitting uniform of language, making them visible and clear.

There is no teacher more discriminating or transforming than loss.

The great teachers fill you up with hope and shower you with a thousand reasons to embrace all aspects of life.

Life is a character-building opportunity that we all volunteered for.

The universe is a trillion, trillion threads moving in seemingly unrelated directions. Yet when you look at them together, they create a remarkable tapestry.

I feel, in the end, as if everything I've done has been a failure.

As long as I have laughter, I am not without hope

How the early priests came into possession of these secrets does not appear, and if there were ever any records of this kind the Church would hardly allow them to become public.

I think there has to be the sense that once you have climbed the ladder of success, that you don't push it away from the building.

What do I wear in bed? Why, Chanel No. 5, of course.

My first instrument is piano, I play some piano and guitar. So my solo music is more like real singer/songwriter type stuff.

Our brain is continuously being shaped - we can take more responsibility for our own brain by cultivating positive influences.

I turned to human suffering because - this may sound odd - animal suffering is more difficult for me to deal with.