Only the self-sufficient stand alone - most people follow the crowd and imitate.

Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one

Make at least one definite move daily toward your goal.

Remember, success is a journey not a destination. Have faith in your ability. You will do just fine.

Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless - like water.

Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind.

A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.

I'm not in this world to live up to your expectations and you're not in this world to live up to mine.

The past is no more; the future not yet. Nothing exists except the here and now. Our grand business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at our hands.

A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.

If you love life, don't waste time, for time is what life is made up of.

Writing romantic fiction is the second chance that loved ones denied us.

In human life, economics precedes politics or culture.

Language shapes consciousness and from consciousness, our world is shaped.

The Jesuits I know who have died and all their lives were great teachers, they're the least remembered people

I learned that realism can come in all shapes and sizes. The world is big enough for different values to coexist.

I try to make my music have the quiet spaces of folk, the intimacy, and the energy of rock.

Tournament chess is not relaxing. It's stressful, even if you win.

Jazz is like the universe: it's been expanding since its creation and it's connected to everything.

Poetry has ceased to be a public art and has become, as Whitehead said of religion, "What man does with his aloneness.

I love funny people. I met and became friends with some of the funniest people ever. Gilda Radner, bless her soul; Martin Short; Dave Thomas; Eugene Levy.