The way we do anything is the way we do everything.

Basic human contact - the meeting of eyes, the exchanging of words - is to the psyche what oxygen is to the brain. If you're feeling abandoned by the world, interact with anyone you can.

Given the eclectic and constantly shifting nature of my metaphysical inclinations, I will probably never feel certain exactly what an angel is.

At times in my life, I have been utterly lonely. At other times, I've had disgusting infectious diseases. Try admitting these things in our culture.

If you're feeling abandoned by the world, interact with anyone you can.

Instead of fretting about getting everything done, why not simply accept that being alive means having things to do? Then drop into full engagement with whatever you're doing, and let the worry go.

Don't expect the future to look like the past. Clear away expectations, and let yourself picture a wild, grand new world.

Whether you've seen angels floating around your bedroom or just found a ray of hope at a lonely moment, choosing to believe that something unseen is caring for you can be a life-shifting exercise.

Although beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, the feeling of being beautiful exists solely in the mind of the beheld.

Standards of beauty are arbitrary. Body shame exists only to the extent that our physiques don't match our own beliefs about how we should look.

Every day brings new choices.

I've tried to solve problems to the best of my knowledge. Many times I was successful, but sometimes I also failed. And now I finally understand – that's life.

There are new mercies every morning.

Your best authorial self is always one about to ruin the story.

The rules or 'laws' of poetry are only tentative devices, an approximate scheme. There is no Sinaitic recipe for poetry, for the individual poem is the norm.

I never had a speech from my father 'this is what you must do or shouldn't do' but I just learned to be led by example. My father wasn't perfect.

I wake up every morning and say to myself, Well, I'm still in New York. Thank you, God.

It is no happiness to live long, nor unhappiness to die soon; happy is he that hath lived long enough to die well.

Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and, above all those who live without love.

American federalism was the embodiment of political tolerance and decentralization - the expression of the liberal conviction that society can manage itself and needs no central plan.

All men make mistakes, but only wise men learn from their mistakes.