To misuse one's talent, to be cavalier about it, to set it aside because of fear or sloth is unpardonable.

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.

Love is the beginning of understanding.

My emotions are spiraling out of control. I never promised I would be logical at a time like this!

A true party-man hates and despises candour.

As we lose ourselves in the service of others, we discover our own lives and our own happiness.

In short, then, the religious cult is based upon the representations of sorcery between man and man, and the sorcerer is older than the priest.

Peacocks have the bright feathers. Fish have the long tails. Women have the mall.

Honestly, the world can be a dark enough place. Light it up.

If you're trying to get out of debt, you have to be willing to treat everything as expendable.

I can't see the forest through the trees, except the trees are people.

Success means different things to different people. To me, the greatest quality of successful human beings is the ability to love.