Everything is cause and effect. If you don't move, nothing will move with you, and nothing will move toward you.

The more I expect, the more unhappy I am going to be. The more I accept, the more serene I am.

Zoos are becoming facsimiles - or perhaps caricatures - of how animals once were in their natural habitat. If the right policies toward nature were pursued, we would need no zoos at all.

Acceptance doesn't mean resignation; it means understanding that something is what it is and that there's got to be a way through it.

I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence I can reach for; perfection is God's business.

Our challenges don’t define us, our actions do.

If you fixate on the worst-case scenario and it actually happens, you’ve lived it twice.

Family is not an important thing. It's everything.

I like to encourage people to realize that any action is a good action if it's proactive and there is positive intent behind it.

One's dignity may be assaulted, vandalized and cruelly mocked, but cannot be taken away unless it is surrendered.

Medical science has proven time and again that when the resources are provided, great progress in the treatment, cure, and prevention of disease can occur.

I've always loved science fiction. I think the smartest writers are science fiction writers dealing with major things.” – Associated Press interview, 12-7-11

People can cry much easier than they can change.

To talk about the senselessness of the battle was to attribute sense to war itself.

A friend is a present you give to yourself.

What other people think of you is not your business. If you start to make that business your business, you will be offended for the rest of your life.

On the seventh day God rested. His grandchildren must have been out of town.

In the past, it was expected that about three years were required to learn a single kata, and usually even an expert of considerable skill would only know three, or at most five, kata.

We can take from the past its fires, and not its ashes.

I think a great song appeals to older and younger people and it makes you think. It's also honest, and it also doesn't hurt if it's fun to sing along to.

The story is a testament to the consolations that get me through and give meaning to every area of my life.