Focus on patience, loyalty, intelligence, greed, dissatisfaction and pride.

Happiness will never flourish in a life bereft of optimism.

I understand (finally) that God does not REACT to prayers or petitions. He has ACTED. It is already done.

Why trade definite for a maybe?

Depending on the strength of the relationship, level of communication and one’s tolerance for discord, many people are able to get past normal skirmishes unscathed.

In relationships, everyone makes mistakes. If you are forgiven for yours, don't take it for granted.

Truth be told, many couples spend more time planning the wedding and the honeymoon than they do preparing for the marriage.

Trying to change someone to suit your desires is a setup for disappointment.

No one should gain access to the important areas of your life if you are not absolutely sure they are there for good reason.

No matter how worldly I became, there was always that one part of me that never forgot where I came from and how simple life was there.

Don't be managed by the likelihood of mishaps. Be motivated by the promise of favor!

Teaching was the hardest work I had ever done, and it remains the hardest work I have done to date.

But what I hope for from a book - either one that I write or one that I read - is transparency. I want the story to shine through. I don't want to think of the writer.

You know an odd feeling? Sitting on the toilet eating a chocolate candy bar.

Few sons are like their fathers - many are worse, few better.

The press tend to stick with that the people don't care about foreign policy in their daily lives and aren't concerned about it and so on and so forth. I don't think that's actually true.

Every now and then, a presidential candidate surprises us with a truly human and honest moment.

I was very conceptual about what I was doing; I had the first five albums planned out, and all the songs on every album, and the artwork. I always had these ambitious musical projects in mind.

Poetry, therefore, we will call Musical Thought.

I drop in from the sky disturbing the silence only momentarily, then leaving the ancient land once more to converse with the sky. It's my home and all I need.

They stared out their window at night enough to know where the darkest shadows lay, and it was to the darkest shadows they kept.