The poet Melvin B. Tolson once said "A civilization is judged only in its decline." That made sense to me. I would imagine the same is true for poets and tennis players.

Deal with yourself as a individual, worthy of respect and make everyone else deal with you the same way.

She knows who she is, because she knows who she isn't.

Mistakes are a fact of life. It is the response to the error that counts.

The only way you can grow is to let yourself make mistakes and create contradictions. As we learn new things, some of our old attitudes will change.

We are strong enough to stand tall tearlessly, we are brave enough to bend to cry, and we are sad enough to know that we must laugh again.

We have a world to conquer...one person at a time...starting with ourselves.

I want to be clear about this. If you wrote from experience, you'd get maybe one book, maybe three poems. Writers write from empathy.

We love because it's the only true adventure.

You must be unintimidated by your own thoughts.

Once you know who you are, you don't have to worry anymore.

If you love a person, you should show it in adundance, not reserve it for special occasions like fine china.

Depression is a red herring, " said Nariman. "I think a lot about the past, it's true. But at my age, the past is more present than the here and now. and there is not much percentage in the future.

When one's work hides behind simple, process is kind of long story.

The dark clouds make the black sea. (Les nuages noirs - Font la mer noire)

You keep insisting, I feel good because the world is right! Wrong! The world is right because I feel good. That's what all the mystics are saying.

On October 28th, 1887, I became the mother of a girl baby, the very image of its father, at least that is what he said, but who has the temper of its mother.

It takes 300 years, it seems, for the great bands to get their due.

What do we expect from criticism? People appear to want it, but why?

You just can’t say that, just as you can’t say that all Christians are fundamentalists. We have our share of them (fundamentalists). All religions have these little groups.

In America, we believe that our happiness depends on getting breaks, even though being American is already the biggest break we will ever get.