The place one's in, though, doesn't make any contribution to peace of mind: it's the spirit that makes everything agreeable to oneself.

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that things are difficult

A sword by itself does not slay; it is merely the weapon used by the slayer.

The important thing about a problem is not its solution, but the strength we gain in finding the solution

Don't stumble over something behind you.

We become wiser by adversity; prosperity destroys our appreciation of the right.

Great men rejoice in adversity, just as brave soldiers triumph in war.

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.

There in no one more unfortunate than the man who has never been unfortunate. for it has never been in his power to try himself.

It's all in your headJ you have the power to make things seem hard or easy or even amusing. The choice is yours.

Death is the wish of some, the relief of many, and the end of all.

Anxiety is love's greatest killer. It makes others feel as you might when a drowning man holds on to you. You want to save him, but you know he will strangle you with his panic.

I always believed you could fix whatever problems.

[At a musical concert:] . . . the music's pure algebra of enchantment.

I used to have a lot of recurring dreams about Captain Hook when I was a little kid, which I remember very vividly. But I think I just really liked Peter Pan a lot, and 'Hook' was my favorite movie.

Check out the produce bin in your fridge or your cabinet before you buy more. When you see something on the verge of going bad, freeze it, turn it into a sauce, make jam.

I am not a historian. I am a writer obsessed with remembering, with remembering the past

A heresy can spring only from a system that is in full vigor.

Your value should not be determined by how somebody else has treated you.

If you deconstruct Greece, you will in the end see an olive tree, a grapevine, and a boat remain. That is, with as much, you reconstruct her.