You are no greater than the friends you keep, the books you read, the heroes you admire, and the obstacles you overcome.

A genuine smile is one of the world’s rarest treasures.

A fish that is afraid of drowning in a river is ignorant of its gifts.

A diamond earns its sparkle from the pressure it endures.

It is in the storm, not the calm, that a rainbow is born.

A determined seed cannot be hidden from the world, not even by dirt.

Calm skies don't make skillful eagles.

If you cry in the rain, only the sky will see your tears.

Birds keep singing beautiful songs, even if they have no audience.

Today's storms help you appreciate tomorrow’s sunshine.

Train the ears to hear more, the eyes to see more, the hands to do more, the feet to accomplish more, the mind to think more, the heart to feel more, and the soul to love more.

When I read Shakespeare I am struck with wonder that such trivial people should muse and thunder in such lovely language.

Love is all right, as things go, but lovers can be a terrible waste of a girl's time.

Elegance is the perfect disguise for our violent nature—a mask so convincing that we often fool ourselves the moment we don it.

Parenthood always comes as a shock. Postpartum blues? Postpartum panic is more like it. We set out to have a baby what we get is a total take-over of our lives.

There are a great many simpletons who know themselves to be so, and who make a very cunning use of their own simplicity.

Creation is the highest form of Divinity, and your birthright. Truth is, you are creating all the time. The central question in your life is whether you are doing this consciously or unconsciously.

As I said, when we needed to move over to rock'n'roll, Sam and Vernon couldn't quite make the shift. So that's when Larry took over on drums, and we needed a bass player.

Love is a driver, bitter and fierce if you fight and resist him, Easy-going enough once you acknowledge his power.

If we threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

If Ive vividly laid out the narrative, the reader will come to his own conclusions.