In my version of paradise, the air was always cold and the rivers ran with candy.

Every day I have many choices to make about who I want to be.

I think it's the human spirit inside of all of us that has an enormous capacity to survive.

The road to recovery will not always be easy, but I will take it one day at a time, focusing on the moments I've dreamed about for so long.

I'm afraid of elevators, because they are an enclosed space, but I get in.

Contemplating Christmas when you are isolated and far from home brings its own unique pain.

Christmas was the one time of year when my brothers surfaced at home, when my parents and grandparents congregated to eat my mother's roast turkey.

Getting on a plane is hard for me, but I do it, because travel is vital to me.

I've realized that the world is, in essence, full of banana peels - loaded with things that may unwittingly trip an internal wire in my mind, opening a floodgate of fears without warning.

I used my captors names every chance I had. It was intentional, a way of reminding them that I saw them, of pegging them, of making them see me in return.

Forgiving is not an easy thing to do.

Inside you there is something that the whole world needs

Challenges cannot possibly be good or bad. Challenges are simply challenges.

Spit fire from my hammer like I wasn't God's child.

Definitely trust yourself. Work hard. Be honest with yourself. And life can be joyful. It is joyful. Just give it your all and it's all going to work out.

Nowadays it seems to me nobody takes trouble about anything, especially writing songs.

It's unwise to presume on the future... It makes good sense to plan for tomorrow today, but there's a problem with thinking we can always do later the good we can do now.

The poet sees better than other mortals. I do not see things as they are, but according to my own subjective impression, and this makes life easier and simpler.

The sensory acts are accordingly distinguished by their objects.

Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.

Our ability to respond positively to setbacks, fuels our creativity and lays the foundation for future successes.