The first sound a child hears is very important. It determines character. A Muslim child always hears the Azan first. Words in praise of God. Words to live by.

There is no denying it, our past stinks and seeps into our present. Occasionally I get such a potent whiff of history that my mind spins and my stomach lurches.

Your mother wasn’t upset. “Scars stay with you so you don’t forget, ” she said. She seemed almost satisfied.

I struggle to discover what these silent sons of mine want, but words have always failed me. They are sullen even as they tell me they are okay. I know they are lying but there is nothing I can do.

Difficulties were fires. If you kept them in check, you could learn from them. You simply had to know how to fan them the right way.

They want me to contain the raging fires within me. They need me to appreciate glowing embers, to understand that even weak flames need to be managed with a lot of careful planning.

But what is the point of buying vegetables in plastic bags? Everything from the supermarket smells of plastic. Everything from the market smells like it’s supposed to.

I drop to the curb like childhood leaving a body.

The drive for happiness is vital it's what keeps us in motion.

The very best people are like that. They don't entangle you like flypaper.

I believe America is safest and strongest when we are leading the world and we are leading strong alliances.

Sometimes I feel like there are people just waiting for me to fall. The funny thing is, I can't give them anything. I have just never been a partier, even in school.

Languages are something of a mess. They evolve over centuries through an unplanned, democratic process that leaves them teeming with irregularities, quirks, and words like 'knight.'

I spent most of the year in the studio for electronic music at a radio station in Cologne or in other studios where I produced new works with all kinds of electronic apparatus.

The best farming systems are ones where animals and plants are put into a synergistic relationship.

There are two things that one must get used to or one will find life unendurable: the damages of time and injustices of men.

Bungle is definitely a priority right now.