I think the essence of family is that you have to agree to it, and then supply, out of your imagination and capacity for loyalty, the contents of it.

Love is holy because it is like grace--the worthiness of its object is never really what matters.

Sometimes I have loved the peacefulness of an ordinary Sunday. It is like standing in a newly planted garden after a warm rain. You can feel the silent and invisible life.

Every sorrow suggests a thousand songs and every song recalls a thousand sorrows and so they are infinite in number and all the same.

I am grateful for all those dark years, even though in retrospect they seem like a long, bitter prayer that was answered finally.

We are part of a mystery, a splendid mystery within which we must attempt to orient ourselves if we are to have a sense of our own nature.

This is an interesting planet. It deserves all the attention you can give it.

There is more beauty than our eyes can bear, precious things have been put into our hands and to do nothing to honor them is to do great harm.

Ordinary things have always seemed numinous to me

When we did not move or speak, there was no proof that we were there at all.

Because, once alone, it is impossible to believe that one could ever have been otherwise. Loneliness is an absolute discovery.

Remember that the one person who can make you joyous and happy is YOU! You do not have to put the key to your own happiness in someone else's pocket!

Your days are only important if you decide to make them important.

I won’t stay, ” I warned him. “I won’t try to fight for you anymore. This is it. If you walk away it’s not for me. I won’t ever think that. I will always, always blame you for this. For ruining us.

When a nation is under oppression for too long, it gets used to it and begins to agree with that oppression

Virtue comes by nature, learning, and practice, and thanks to virtue, all of the aforesaid may deserve approval.

I think we should be honest about who is working in our kitchens.

There's so much in the 21st century that is stymied by bureaucracy and mediocrity and committee.

For children, Christmas is anticipation. For adults, Christmas is memory.

Remember, your attitude toward a situation can help you to change it - you create the very atmosphere for defeat or victory.

Don't deceive me. Never leave me.