I remember myself as a child, pudgy and awkward and unsure of myself. For a moment I wonder how anyone could love such a child as that, let alone the woman she promised to become.

They are faithful, even if we are not.

Do not lose your heart, " she said. What she did not tell me was that the surest way to lose it was to hold it tight.

Each step I take toward him is one more step closer to home.

Between ourselves, there is no such thing, abstractly, as a 'good' book. A book is 'good' only when it meets some human hunger or refutes some human error.

People endure what they endure and they deal with it. It may corrupt them. It may lead them into all sorts of compensatory excesses.

Before you can improve your life and find a measure of happiness, you must learn to do one thing every day out of pure love.

If we are to use our tools in the service of fitting in on Earth, our basic relationship to nature--even the story we tell ourselves about who we are in the universe--has to change.

My father taught me to always do more than you get paid for as an investment in your future.

Given that religious faith is an intrinsic element of human experience, it is best to approach and engage the subject with a sense of history and a critical sensibility.

When I became mayor, the city was in tough financial straits.

It is a remarkable coincidence that almost everyone has the same religion as their parents and it always just so happens they're the right religion.

As against having beautiful workshops, studies, etc., one writes best in a cellar on a rainy day.

I am a realist. I expect miracles.