Writing shouldn't come between the reader and what's being described. It should be as transparent as possible.

Read it aloud to yourself because that's the only way to be sure the rhythms of the sentences are OK.

She was an object lesson on the essential luck, whatever hardships may come their way, of those born able to make things.

Look! Why want anything more marvellous than what is.

Discomfort awakens the consciousness.

If we were in India now, there would be servants standing in the corners of this room and I wouldn't notice them. That is what my society is like, that is what the divide is like.

Art is standing with one hand extended into the universe and one hand extended into the world, and letting ourselves be a conduit for passing energy.

Today everyone is a star - they're all billed as 'starring' or 'also starring'. In my day, we earned that recognition.

I don't ever worry about whether I'm being true to my country roots. My country roots were adopted. I never worry about what I can do and what I should do. I just do what I want to do.

We can't cure a shortage by increasing the supply.

One trick, known as the journey method or 'memory palace,' is to conjure up a familiar space in the mind's eye, and then populate it with images of whatever it is you want to remember.

I've never been able to contemplate failure. Success is everything.

It finally happened. I got the GPS lady so confused, she said, "In one-quarter mile, make a legal stop and ask directions.

Rather than spend my life on data entry and typing, I also take photos on my iPhone of business cards, wine labels, menus, or anything I want to have searchable on-the-run.