Dullness is the first requisite of a good husband.

Nothing in the world is permanent, and we’re foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we’re still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it.

We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person.

To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life.

It's a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.

If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will lose that too.

The secret to life is meaningless unless you discover it yourself.

The only important thing in a book is the meaning that it has for you.

It is dangerous to let the public behind the scenes. They are easily disillusioned and then they are angry with you, for it was the illusion they loved.

The common idea that success spoils people by making them vain, egotistic and self-complacent is erroneous; on the contrary it makes them, for the most part, humble, tolerant and kind.

Imagination grows by exercise, and contrary to common belief, is more powerful in the mature than in the young.

What I've learned about writing is that sometimes less is more, while often more is grander. And both are true.

If I can trust the word of a friend, why do I question the word of the God of the universe? Go figure. Sin is truly bizarre." [Running Scared, p. 111]

You can't stay in your corner of the forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.

I need drama in my life to keep making music.

I knew I would be famous one day. That's because I lived in a very small town and nobody liked doing the same things I did, like writing.

To be honest, I think kids have got a lot more going on than adults. They've got their heads screwed on a lot better.

It's not that I don't love the song. My songs are like my children: some you want around and some you want to send off to college as soon as possible.

There Is No God. This negation must be understood solely to affect a creative Deity. The hypothesis of a pervading Spirit co-eternal with the universe remains unshaken.

She doth mean the earth to me! By earth, I actually mean dust.

If others don't use their gifts, you get cheated, and if you don;t use your gifts, they get cheated.