Most voters would rather have their purse or wallet stolen than be audited by the IRS.

The principles behind explaining and educating the product or the elected official is similar, even though the actual execution of it is very, very different.

It's not what you say, it's what people hear.

A compelling story, even if factually inaccurate, can be more emotionally compelling than a dry recitation of the truth.

It is acceptable to bring someone to tears if it explains to them in an emotional way why a product, a service, or a candidate is the right person, is the right thing to do.

Politics is gut; commercials are gut.

Ideology and communication more often than not run into each other rather than complement each other. Principle and communication work together. Ideology and communication often work apart.

I have seen how effective language attached to policies that are mainstream and delivered by people who are passionate and effective can change the course of history.

The way you communicate an idea is different than the way you communicate a product.

Republicans use think tanks to come up with a lot of their messages. The think tanks are the single worst, most undisciplined example of communication I've ever seen.

You cannot lie ever, because a lie destroys the credibility of the product, and credibility is more important than anything. Credibility's even more important than clarity.

Form follows emotion

The romantic fairy tales we grew up with -- where marriage is the happy ending rather than the opening scene -- are not useful for grown-ups.

The city is a plague… and I am the penicillin.

If you do not find peace in yourself you will never find it anywhere else.

What man can imagine he may one day achieve.

Two kinds of people are good at foreseeing danger: those who have learned at their own expense, and the clever people who learn a great deal at the expense of others.

Church is a place where you get to practice what it means to be human.

I read, therefore, I matter.

Small objects, like the Walkman first and then the iPod, create bubbles of space around us that enable us to have a metaphysical space that is much bigger than our physical space.

My voice, at first rough and breaking on the high notes, warms up into something splendid. A voice that would make the mockingjays fall silent and then tumble over themselves to join in.