The present necessarily betrays the past.

Pain narrows consciousness; pleasure blurs it.

When Medusa looks in the mirror, she sees the Lady of Sorrows.

My passions have never jumped out of the fireplace and set fire to the carpet.

Retirement requires the invention of a new hedonism, not a return to the hedonism of youth

The sewing machine joins what the scissors have cut asunder, plus whatever else comes in its path.

Clothes make a statement. Costumes tell a story.

The laughter of the aphorism is sometimes triumphant, but seldom carefree.

'Be faithful to your roots' is the liberal version of 'Stay in your ghetto.'

Every day begins with an act of courage and hope: getting out of bed.

Totem poles and wooden masks no longer suggest tribal villages but fashionable drawing rooms in New York and Paris.

May you find the right path to your destination.

Every advancing step I take toward my goal of comfort is yet another retreating step I take away from God's goal of the impossible.

Be sure of this, O young ambition, all mortal greatness is but disease.

It’s a baby. A baby can’t be without a mother.

The word of a cat is not to be relied upon.

I never met anyone who didn't have a very smart child. What happens to these children, you wonder, when they reach adulthood?

Proclaiming the gospel to a lost world cannot be just another activity to add to the church's crowded agenda. It must be central to who we are. It forms our identity.

A song is like a saddle: you ride it for a while, and if it's the right kind of song you can sing it for the rest of your life.

An armed and trained militia is the firmest bulwark of republics - that without standing armies their liberty can never be in danger, nor with large ones safe.

All of the artists that I've worked with have an incredible work ethic. And Madonna has the best work ethic of them all. I've learned a lot from being around her.