Work begins when the fear of doing nothing at all finally trumps the terror of doing it badly.

You normally have to be bashed about a bit by life to see the point of daffodils, sunsets and uneventful nice days.

Do you love me enough that I may be weak with you? Everyone loves strength, but do you love me for my weakness? That is the real test.

The challenge for a human now is to be more interesting to another than his or her smartphone.

There is no such thing as work-life balance. Everything worth fighting for unbalances your life.

Intimacy is the capacity to be rather weird with someone - and finding that that's ok with them.

Anyone who isn't embarrassed of who they were last year probably isn't learning enough.

Don't despair: despair suggests you are in total control and know what is coming. You don't - surrender to events with hope.

One of the better guarantors of ending up in a good relationship: an advanced capacity to be alone.

To one's enemies: "I hate myself more than you ever could.

The only people we can think of as normal are those we don't yet know very well.

The mighty Mahmúd, Allah-breathing Lord, That all the misbelieving and black HordeOf Fears and Sorrows that infest the SoulScatters before him with his whirlwind Sword.

You're afraid of criticism, ' she says. 'But criticism is a sign of life! You know who doesn't get criticized? Nonentities! Only the dead escape criticism.

Every journey we take requires a good pair of wellingtons because there are some thorns and puddles along the way.

If a cook can't make soup between two and seven, she can't make it in a week.

We are all several different people. There are different aspects of our nature that are competing.

As a poet and writer, I deeply love and I deeply hate words.

The boundaries of bodies are the least of all things.

You have your bad moments in your career and your good moments. And it's been a good ride so far, but it's not over yet.

People love steak all over the United States.

I'm steel-toed boots in a ballet-slipper world.