part of the problem with a war on poverty today is that many Americans have decided that being poor is a character defect, not an economic condition.

The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.

I would be the most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.

A finished person is a boring person.

There is a little boy inside the man who is my brother... Oh, how I hated that little boy. And how I love him too.

After all those years as a woman hearing 'not thin enough, not pretty enough, not smart enough, not this enough, not that enough,' almost overnight I woke up one morning and thought, 'I'm enough.'

Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey. They are home.

There is a lot of talk now about metal detectors and gun control. Both are good things. But they are no more a solution than forks and spoons are a solution to world hunger.

Look back, to slavery, to suffrage, to integration and one thing is clear. Fashions in bigotry come and go. The right thing lasts.

You are the only person alive who has sole custody of your life ... Your entire life ... Not just the life of your mind, but the life of your heart. Not just your bank account, but your soul.

America is a country that seems forever to be toddler or teenager, at those two stages of human development characterized by conflict between autonomy and security.

Suddenly watching her feet, so light and precise and mistress of his shuffle, I was in love again.

In my youth I had three teachers: friends, enemies, and books. In my adulthood I had three professors: God, nature, and life.

The fraud part of me was always there, just as a puzzle piece, objectively speaking, is a true piece of the puzzle even before you see how it fits.

Saving and pinching to get married, you're losing the best time of your life.

You have the power to create your own destiny. You just need to decide what you want and how badly you want it.

Permanent superiority has never been realized by any nation in history. After the rise comes the fall.

After I joined Toyota, there was a period when I drove more than 200 cars in one year - different types, other companies' cars. I want to be able to tell what distinguishes one car from the next.

You get too old to lose. When you were a young guy, you bounced back from losses.

Of all the things you can now do, which do you choose to do?

The most certain sign of wisdom is a continual cheerfulness; her state is like that of things in the regions above the moon, always clear and serene.