Remember this: Beliefs divide, values unite. When we go to the values that underlie so many religious beliefs, they unite us.

You alone are the judge of your worth and your goal is to discover infinite worth in yourself, no matter what anyone else thinks.

Everything that happens to us is a reflection of who we are.

No matter what the situation, remind yourself "I have a choice."

Be happy for no reason, like a child. If you are happy for a reason, you’re in trouble, because that reason can be taken from you.

The love you feel in life is a reflection of the love you feel in yourself.

Although we take it for granted, sanitation is a physical measure that has probably done more to increase human life span than any kind of drug or surgery.

Meditation is not a way of making your mind quiet. It is a way of entering into the quiet that is already there - buried under the 50,000 thoughts the average person thinks every day

Treat every moment as a gift, that is why it is called the present.

Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way, ask if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future.

Take responsibility for your last bad decision, and then let it go. Don't blame others or make excuses for yourself.

God creates out of nothing. Wonderful you say. Yes, to be sure, but he does what is still more wonderful: he makes saints out of sinners.

For every failure, there's an alternativecourse of action. You just have to find it. When you come to a roadblock, take a detour.

Great writers teach as well as entertain.

Writing humor for me is more like a watchful-ness. You have to watch. When you say something funny, or someone else does, it's more like you wait for the piece.

I find it very difficult to compose when I'm not playing.

[My mother] was the strength of our family, and I didn't realize that until I got a little bit older.

I think "creative preaching" is redundant.

There is a tendency among men as well as women ... so soon as they have acquired a little knowledge of some kind, to want to display it to the best advantage.

Because we all come from different circumstances, our life experiences really color how we view things.

I took pictures of the objects and artifacts that Patti [Smith] would show to her friends because I wanted to document them.