What makes human life meaningful? I still felt literature provided the best account of the life of the mind, while neuroscience laid down the most elegant rules of the brain.

Human knowledge is never contained in just one person.

Even if you are perfect the World isn't.

Literature not only illuminated another's experience, it provided, I believed, the richest material for moral reflection

Putting lifestyle first is how you find a job- not a calling.

A word meant something only between people, and life’s meaning, its virtue, had something to do with the depth of the relationships we form.

People often ask if it was calling. My answer always is yes.

Putting lifestyle first is how you find a job-- not a calling.

[H]e found poetry more comforting than Scripture—and his ability to forge from his life a cogent, powerful tale of living with death.

You cannot reach space without overcoming the attraction of gravity.

True friendship can afford true knowledge. It does not depend on darkness and ignorance.

Middle class America is acutely aware of how bad this economy is, and it is going to demand changes. I don't think politicians can afford to be complacent.

I just want to make music that matters, that people will remember for a long time.

People still recognize me all the time on the street. The first thing they say when they stop me is, "Where have you been?" The second comment they make is always, "Oh, you've grown up."

Even if you are divine, you don't disdain male consorts.

Tatiana realized she was too young to hide well what was in her heart but old enough to know that her heart was in her eyes.

The goal is to balance a life that works with a life that counts.

If the depths of everyone's sin was made public, we would all be much more gracious to each other.

Etiquette is what you are doing and saying when people are looking and listening. What you are thinking is your business.