Like seeing a photograph of yourself as a child, encountering handwriting that you know was once yours but that now seems only dimly familiar can inspire a confrontation with the mystery of time.

I’ve always found that the better the book I’m reading, the smarter I feel, or, at least, the more able I am to imagine that I might, someday, become smarter.

A neighbor once told me he had trouble with García Márquez’s novel because he likes to drink while he reads, and 'The Autumn of the Patriarch' gave him no space in which to take a sip of his beer.

She read books quickly and compulsively, paperback after paperback, as if she might drift away without the anchor of the printed page.

Each new day is another chapter in the unfolding promise of deliverance and life.

It is difficult to believe in the dreadful but quiet war lurking just below the serene facade of nature.

My mom taught us the Serenity Prayer at a young age.

Camus himself described this work as 'an attempt to understand the time I live in'.

Violence against women is still treated as a lesser crime. Armed groups turn it into a weapon of choice because of near total impunity.

An open ear is the only believable sign of an open heart.

I try not to take for granted how lucky we are to have life and breath and opportunity. Once we've got that, we can conquer anything.

Make no mistake, I always want to win, but I never fight with an opponent. My fight is within me it is the struggle to be the best I can be at whatever I do.

Look at those who have talked about you and doubted you. They are your inspirational reason to succeed.