With years a richer life begins, the spirit mellow: ripe age gives tones to violins, wine, and good fellows.

Darius was clearly of the opinion That the air is also man's dominion, And that, with paddle or fins or pinion, We soon or late Shall navigate The azure, as now we sail the sea.

Men are polished, through act and speech, Each by each, As pebbles are smoothed on the rolling beach.

The birds can fly, An' why can't I?

Not in rewards, but in the strength to strive, the blessing lies.

For me the diamond dawns are set In rings of beauty.

A flower more sacred than far-seen success Perfumes my solitary path; I find Sweet compensation in my humbleness, And reap the harvest of a quiet mind.

I keep some portion of my early gleam; Brokenly bright, like moonbeams on a river, It lights my life, a far illusive dream, Moves as I move, and leads me on forever.

The birds can fly, an' why can't I? Must we give in, says he with a grin, That the bluebird an' phoebe are smarter 'n we be?

The tears of the young who go their way, last a day; But the grief is long of the old who stay.

Our days, our deeds, all we achieve or are, Lay folded in our infancy; the things Of good or ill we choose while yet unborn.

The secret to success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.

My family is my life, and I'll never lose that.

Relationship is the mirror in which you discover yourself - to be is to be related.

And the president should be doing more about education than saying, 'Lights, camera, action.'

I asked a French critic a couple of years ago why my books did so well in France. He said it was because in my novels people both act and think. I got a kick out of that.

Instead of seeing these children for the blessings that they are, we are measuring them only by the standard of whether they will be future deficits or assets for our nation's competitive needs.

Actually, my favourite roles have been in theatre, but on TV, my faves were Slap Maxwell and Larry Sanders.

The advocates of literal interpretation have been the most efficacious enemies of those doctrines whose nature they profess to venerate.

You don't have to think exactly like me.

Eternity is the divine treasure-house, and hope is the window, by means of which mortals are permitted to see, as through a glass darkly, the things which God is preparing.