Rather than being taught to ask ourselves who we are, we are schooled to ask others. We are, in effect, trained to listen to others’ versions of ourselves.

Growth is an erratic forward movement: two steps forward, one step back. Remember that and be very gentle with yourself.

What we really want to do is what we are really meant to do. When we do what we are meant to do, money comes to us, doors open for us, we feel useful, and the work we do feels like play to us.

The voice of our original self is often muffled, overwhelmed, even strangled, by the voices of other people’s expectations.

I have learned, as a rule of thumb, never to ask whether you can do something. Say, instead, that you are doing it. Then fasten your seat belt. The most remarkable things follow.

Perfectionism is not a quest for the best. It is a pursuit of the worst in ourselves, the part that tells us that nothing we do will ever be good enough - that we should try again.

It takes constant vigilance not to slip into negativity or simple apathy. It takes courage to believe over any given period of time that we are getting better and not sliding into decline.

As you move toward a dream, the dream moves toward you.

Creativity requires faith. Faith requires that we relinquish control.

If we lean into what we love instead of soldiering toward what we 'should,' our pace quickens, our energy rises, optimism sets in. What we love is nutritious for us.

What we focus on, we empower and enlarge. Good multiplies when focused upon. Negativity multiplies when focused upon. The choice is ours: Which do we want more of?

Power is not a means

I can't imagine why everybody is always so keen for authors to talk about writing. I should have thought it was an author's business to write, not talk.

Be kinder than necessary.

One must credit an hypothesis with all that has had to be discovered in order to demolish it.

Life was a lot more adventurous before caller I.D.

I have a ton of cousins on my moms side of the family, and we would put on shows together all the time and put on costumes, and we even charged our parents money.

No coffee is ever quite as good as it smells.

Really, what [sea] ice does is it acts like a garden. … Losing that ice is like losing the soil in a garden.

It is hard to know what Sarah Palin means in Republican politics anymore.

I've been barefoot most of my life: either flip flops or barefoot on the pool deck. Although you'd think that would make me a good candidate for barefoot running, that doesn't work with me.