No work is of such merit as to instruct from a mere cursory perusal.

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that things are difficult

A sword by itself does not slay; it is merely the weapon used by the slayer.

The important thing about a problem is not its solution, but the strength we gain in finding the solution

Don't stumble over something behind you.

We become wiser by adversity; prosperity destroys our appreciation of the right.

Great men rejoice in adversity, just as brave soldiers triumph in war.

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.

There in no one more unfortunate than the man who has never been unfortunate. for it has never been in his power to try himself.

It's all in your headJ you have the power to make things seem hard or easy or even amusing. The choice is yours.

Death is the wish of some, the relief of many, and the end of all.

Grief is a form of validation

Force is as pitiless to the man who possesses it as it is to its victims—the second it crushes, the first it intoxicates.

I was going to middle school in Berkley, and I did not fit in at all. Like a lot of kids, I found theater to be a good place for me.

I thought my mountain was coming this morning. It was near to speaking when suddenly it shifted, sulked, and returned to smallness. It has eluded me again and sits there, puny and dull. Why?

We exploit celebrities by caring about shallow things like whether they've gotten a facelift. And we violate their children constantly. But we also love them in a way.

There is no fun in doing nothing when you have nothing to do. Wasting time is merely an occupation then, and a most exhausting one.

Whatever is going on in your life when you're writing has to somehow seep into your work.

I like thinking of the writer as a kind of curator; the collection as curiosity cabinet - in a non-demeaning, non-objectifying sense - but an array, a set of offerings.

Where health care has failed is in designing a cost containment mechanism that works.

Richard Meier told me, 'Young man, solar energy has nothing to do with architecture.'