I worked probably 25 years by myself, just writing and working, not trying to publish much, not giving readings.

it is a serious thing // just to be alive / on this fresh morning / in this broken world.

Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.

I don't ask for the sights in front of me to change, only the depth of my seeing.

Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.

One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began.

Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable.

You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.

In this universe we are given two gifts: the ability to love and the ability to question. Which are, at the same time, the fires that warm us and the fires that scorch us.

You must not ever stop being whimsical. And you must not, ever, give anyone else the responsibility for your life.

Never lend your car to someone you've given birth to.

The way in which we think of ourselves has everything to do with how our world sees us.

The President is the direct representative of the American people and is elected by the people and responsible to them.

Life is a vacation God gives to you!

Once you allow yourself to identify with the people in a story, then you might begin to see yourself in that story even if on the surface it's far removed from your situation.

No matter how unfriendly you are you have always listened to my requests. Your kindness is always saving me.

Don't fall in love with your wit. Your cleverly turned phrase may not, as you hope, show off how much gray matter you have, especially if the phrase is at someone else's expense.

I like both slapstick and contradiction. Like philosophers.

The greatest style is when you can't see the style though you walk away knowing it was there. It's like a perfume - there but not there.

I think the most important thing is to establish myself as an actor. As much as it's a performing art, I'm not really a performer.