Newspapers have developed what might be called a vested interest in catastrophe. If they can spot a fight, they play up that fight. If they can uncover a tragedy, they will headline that tragedy.

The immature mind hops from one thing to another; the mature mind seeks to follow through.

A person remains immature, whatever his age, as long as he thinks of himself as an exception to the human race.

Time the devourer of everything.

The very essence of all power to influence lies in getting the other person to participate. The mind that can do that has a powerful leverage on his human world.

To hate and to fear is to be psychologically ill. It is in fact the consuming illness of our time.

Goodness is a special kind of truth and beauty. It is truth and beauty in human behavior.

The secret of all true persuasion is to induce the person to persuade himself.

Better a dish of illusion and a hearty appetite for life than a feast of reality and indigestion therewith.

Sorrow, gladness, yearning, hope, and love belong to all of us, in all times and in all places. Music is the only means whereby we feel these emotions in their universality.

The mature mind seeks to follow through.

When you have done all that you can do, A true Mother will always stick by you. You may think sometimes that she is rude. She has to be because this world can be crude.

Conversation. What is it? A Mystery! It's the art of never seeming bored, of touching everything with interest, of pleasing with trifles, of being fascinating with nothing at all.

I wished I could stay forever, in this moment. Like in one of those plastic snowballs, one little moment frozen in time.

Falsehoods not only disagree with truths but usually quarrel among themselves.

The power for creating a better future is contained in the present moment: You create a good future by creating a good present.

The impulse to dream was slowly beaten out of me by experience. Now it surged up again and I hungered for books, new ways of looking and seeing.

I've definitely run from the cops in the New York City subways.

I think an education is beneficial, but whether it takes an education to be successful in the arts is a whole other question.

Size is relative. If everyone is fat, no-one is fat

Music is my therapy and my straitjacket. Music keeps me sane and keeps my mind on something. It's fragile up there.