nothing is ever quite as bad as it could be.

Just because you have stopped sinking doesn't mean you're not still underwater.

We can only die in the future, I thought; right now we are always alive.

Sometimes a flat-footed sentence is what serves, so you don't get all writerly: 'He opened the door.' There, it's open.

They say the smart dog obeys but the smarter dog knows when to disobey.

Good leaders being scarce, following yourself is allowed.

Wear your heart on the page, and people will read to find out how you solved being alive.

In my head there's a broken balcony I fall off of when I speak.

if it's true your life flashes past your eyes before you die, then it is also the truth that your life rushes forth when you are ready to start to truly be alive.

I sleep with a glass of water on the nightstand so I can see by its level if the coastal earth is trembling or if the shaking is still me.

I want to know everything about you, so I tell you everything about myself.

A father is a man who expects his son to be as good a man as he meant to be.

Worry is a misuse of your imagination.

We could afford the price of peace. Love is all it costs.

Visualization is the human being's vehicle to the future - good, bad, or indifferent. It's strictly in our control.

["War Horse"] does have action as well, but we allow the audience to appreciate the environment where these characters are from because the lens shapes the people, as we know.

But I couldn't cut that whole septic tank scene out because the audience liked it so much. So I sort of fell right back into getting a cheap laugh, but I still loved it.

Long gone are the days when hospital stays and surgeries made up the bulk of seniors annual medical expenses.

if everyone could just be happy with themselves and the choices people around them make, the world would instantly be a better place!

So even though I couldn't bear writing about cancer, I faced it every day.

We're repeating the same things all the time; there aren't many new things happening in this life.