Man has always seen himself the peak of creation. The part of the universe that thinks. The purpose for it all. It's no doubt a gratifying view, but the universe may have a different opinion.

I AM THE MASTER OF MY FATE AND THE CAPTAIN OF MY DESTINY.

I always tell my students, about the biggest baddest things in life you must try to write small and light, save the big writing for the unexpected tiny thing that always makes or breaks a story.

It is... very helpful to think of adversity not so much as a threat to our peace of mind but rather as the very means by which patience is attained.

The point of decorating, as far as I can tell, is to create the background for the best life you can have.

By accepting life's limits and inevitabilities and working with them rather than fighting them, we become free.

I decided that what I really wanted to do was go off and paint.

Pursue not the outer entanglements; Dwell not in the inner void; Be serene in the oneness of things; And dualism vanishes by itself.

Our high respect for a well read person is praise enough for literature.

The powerful hold in deep remembrance an ill-timed pleasantry. [Lat., Facetiarum apud praepotentes in longum memoria est.]

For example, the dwarfs found out how to turn lead into gold by doing it the hard way. The difference between that and the easy way is that the hard way works.