They grow in layers, like the spirit does. That's what Grandpa Sam used to say, anyway. You just got to keep the roots in a clear stream and not let nobody taint the water for you.

There's nothing like rejection to make you do an inventory of yourself.

I used to save all my rejection slips because I told myself, one day I'm going to autograph these and auction them. And then I lost the box.

If there is any human tragedy, there is only one, and it occurs when we forget who we are and remain silent while a stranger takes up residence inside our skin.

The system shaves the dice on the side of those with money and power, and anyone who believes otherwise deserves anything that happens to him.

You do it a day at a time. You write as well as you can, you put it in the mail, you leave it under submission, you never leave it at home.

And like most middle-aged people who hear the clock ticking in their lives, I had come to resent a waste or theft of my time that was greater than any theft of my goods or money.

How do you explain to yourself the casual manner in which you threw your life away?

...and I wonder if there is any way to adequately describe the folly that causes us to undo all the great gifts of both Earth and Heaven.

When you find the right people, you never let go. The people who count are the ones who are your friends in lean times. You have all the friends you want when things are going well.

That's one of the great advantages of age. You can say, I don't want to, I don't care, you can throw temper tantrums, and nobody minds.

Money. The ultimate motivation. The ultimate way of keeping score.

You act in love to be kind, be gentle and be peaceful.

Inhumanity is part of humanity as much as suffering is a part of stories. Cruelty is written in the human script.

Just because you're breathing, doesn't mean you're alive.

Where annual elections end where slavery begins.

I've always enjoyed baseball, but even when I was a kid I can remember viewing it with a businesslike approach.

As children of God we are somebody. He will build us, mold us, and magnify us if we will but hold our heads up, our arms out, and walk with him.

This crazy thing called love...

From snake - charmers, we are now a nation of mouse- charmers. Our youngsters are shaping the world with the click of a mouse with their feats in the IT sector.

I love the Chinese words for greeting: not strictly 'Hello' but 'Have you eaten yet?