If fortune wishes to make a man estimable, she gives him virtues; if she wishes to make him esteemed, she gives him success.

Words are like eyeglasses they blur everything that they do not make clear.

Monuments are the grappling-irons that bind one generation to another.

The aim of argument, or of discussion, should not be victory, but progress.

Without the spiritual world the material world is a disheartening enigma.

The best remedy for a short temper is a long walk.

A part of kindness consists in loving people more than they deserve.

We find little in a book but what we put there. But in great books, the mind finds room to put many things.

The evening of life brings with it its lamps.

He who has imagination without learning has wings but no feet.

Close your eyes and you will see.

You have thousands of friends and all of them will be part of your history but not with your destiny.

Existence is a strange bargain. Life owes us little we owe it everything. The only true happiness comes from squandering ourselves for a purpose.

Death is not more certainly a separation of our souls from our bodies than the Christian life is a separation of our souls from worldly tempers, vain indulgences, and unnecessary cares.

You'll never see me at the launch of the new PlayStation or some club. For me, the fun stuff is being able to get my mom tickets to 'Dancing With the Stars' - she loves Mario Lopez.

I am all in a sea of wonders. I doubt; I fear; I think strange things, which I dare not confess to my own soul. God keep me, if only for the sake of those dear to me!

It's hard to do fiction and nonfiction simultaneously.

If I should neglect prayer but a single day, I should lose a great deal of the fire of faith.

For many, immaturity is an ideal, not a defect.

Unfortunately the trick to great execution is to say no a lot.

If what you know and what you love are the same thing, that's great. But if not, write what you love. I love history, secrets, conspiracies, action, adventure, international settings.