Making art is a rite of initiation. People change their souls.

Growth is an erratic forward movement: two steps forward, one step back. Remember that and be very gentle with yourself.

What we really want to do is what we are really meant to do. When we do what we are meant to do, money comes to us, doors open for us, we feel useful, and the work we do feels like play to us.

The voice of our original self is often muffled, overwhelmed, even strangled, by the voices of other people’s expectations.

I have learned, as a rule of thumb, never to ask whether you can do something. Say, instead, that you are doing it. Then fasten your seat belt. The most remarkable things follow.

Perfectionism is not a quest for the best. It is a pursuit of the worst in ourselves, the part that tells us that nothing we do will ever be good enough - that we should try again.

It takes constant vigilance not to slip into negativity or simple apathy. It takes courage to believe over any given period of time that we are getting better and not sliding into decline.

As you move toward a dream, the dream moves toward you.

Creativity requires faith. Faith requires that we relinquish control.

If we lean into what we love instead of soldiering toward what we 'should,' our pace quickens, our energy rises, optimism sets in. What we love is nutritious for us.

What we focus on, we empower and enlarge. Good multiplies when focused upon. Negativity multiplies when focused upon. The choice is ours: Which do we want more of?

The natural term of the affection of the human animal for its offspring is six years.

Mindfulness helps you understand that the past is gone, can’t be changed and all the lessons are already learned.

Forgiveness is not always easy. At times, it feels more painful than the wound we suffered, to forgive the one that inflicted it. And yet, there is no peace without forgiveness.

A just city should favor justice and the just, hate tyranny and injustice, and give them both their just deserts.

I know a lot of athletes and models are written off as just bodies. I never felt used for my body.

Surveillance of power is one of the most important ways to ensure that power does not abuse its status. But, of course, power does not like to be watched.

Decades of Saddam’s rule made what could have been a fairly rich country, due to its oil reserves, into a very poor one.

Have a care lest the wrinkles in the face extend to the heart.

I am especially fond of you.

An envious fever of pale and bloodless emulation.