Reading and gardening are really big for me, along with music and exercise. If I go more than a day or two without a run or a bike ride or something, I start to get kind of itchy and antsy.

The one thing I would tell everyone - myself included - would be to just chill out. Life, by design, provides us with plenty of drama without us having to augment it and invent more. Just chill.

That same intense, overpowering, and all-encompassing love that you feel for your family can also be utterly terrifying.

Be bold. Be kind. Be brave.

Accept the gift and honor the giver.

Love is real. In every single moment, there are only two choices: love or fear. I can tell you from experience that love is exponentially more powerful. And a hell of a lot more fun.

Always look for common ground, but don't ever be afraid to choose sides.

Figure out what you believe in and what you're willing to fight for, then figure out what your special talents are and apply them to it.

Create the world you want to see.

Learn how to let go and say a good good-bye.

One of the gifts of parenthood is that it forces you to be a bit more conscious about it, if only because you quickly realize that those kids are learning from your every action.

Oh, the fools, like a lot of good little schoolboys, scared to death of anything they've been taught is wrong!

By ' patriotism ' I mean devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life , which one believes to be the best in the world but has no wish to force on other people.

When I was 10 or 11 people started saying there was something special about my voice. But when I was 15 or 16 is when I really thought my hobby could become my career.

We learn more about how human brains work. And that leads us to ideas about how to make human brains work better.

I have one good characteristic: I'm a pessimist, so I always imagine the worst - always. To me, the future is a black hole.

I can't worry about whether roles will be there for me when I'm older.

Again, President Reagan was sort of an amiable presence out at the ranch by the last 6 months of his presidency. He had no effect on national policy at all.

The Americans are a very lucky people. They're bordered to the north and south by weak neighbors, and to the east and west by fish.

We have become so dependent on technology. I am not fond of technology myself, and I do not have a smart phone.

It's asking a great deal that things should appeal to your reason as well as your sense of the aesthetic. - Of Human Bondage