Creativity is God's will for us and should be practiced like any other spiritual practice -a day at a time.

Growth is an erratic forward movement: two steps forward, one step back. Remember that and be very gentle with yourself.

What we really want to do is what we are really meant to do. When we do what we are meant to do, money comes to us, doors open for us, we feel useful, and the work we do feels like play to us.

The voice of our original self is often muffled, overwhelmed, even strangled, by the voices of other people’s expectations.

I have learned, as a rule of thumb, never to ask whether you can do something. Say, instead, that you are doing it. Then fasten your seat belt. The most remarkable things follow.

Perfectionism is not a quest for the best. It is a pursuit of the worst in ourselves, the part that tells us that nothing we do will ever be good enough - that we should try again.

It takes constant vigilance not to slip into negativity or simple apathy. It takes courage to believe over any given period of time that we are getting better and not sliding into decline.

As you move toward a dream, the dream moves toward you.

Creativity requires faith. Faith requires that we relinquish control.

If we lean into what we love instead of soldiering toward what we 'should,' our pace quickens, our energy rises, optimism sets in. What we love is nutritious for us.

What we focus on, we empower and enlarge. Good multiplies when focused upon. Negativity multiplies when focused upon. The choice is ours: Which do we want more of?

The reality of a serious writer is a reality of many voices, some of them belonging to the writer, some of them belonging to the world of readers at large.

We are all scared

In so many ways, segregation shaped me, and education liberated me.

Not exactly but I get inspiration from stories which are unconventional.

I get offered a World War II movie at least once a week just because I speak German and was born there. I have always stayed away from it because I didn't want to be put into that box.

As a songwriter, I think that comes with the territory. The older you get, you like to say it doesn't matter, but you care what people think about what you do.

I do believe in growing old gracefully, and when the time comes that I would look silly performing on stage, I'll be prepared to give it up without regrets.

Reading is an active, imaginative act; it takes work.

Tune out the naysayers, tune into your own courage, and take a bold step toward the passion-filled life you really want.

If you don’t have a good idea of what to do next after using military force, then don’t use it in the first place.