Hard are life's early steps; and but that youth is buoyant, confident, and strong in hope, men would behold its threshold, and despair.

Imagination is to love what gas is to the balloon-that which raises it from earth.

I think hearts are very much like glasses. If they do not break with the first ring, they usually last a considerable time.

Ah, tell me not that memory sheds gladness o'er the past, what is recalled by faded flowers, save that they did not last?

Social life is filled with doubts and vain aspirings; solitude, when the imagination is dethroned, is turned to weariness and ennui.

The heart's hushed secret in the soft dark eye.

Ah, tell me not that memory Sheds gladness o'er the past; What is recalled by faded flowers, Save that they did not last? Were it not better to forget, Than but remember and regret?

In sad truth, half our forebodings of our neighbors are but our own wishes, which we are ashamed to utter in any other form.

An apt quotation is like a lamp which flings its light over the whole sentence.

there is nothing so easy as to be wise for others; a species of prodigality, by-the-by - for such wisdom is wholly wasted.

Strange mystery of our nature, that those in whom genius develops itself in imagination, thus taking its most ethereal form, should yet be the most dependent on the opinions of others!

As an atom, so is the universe. As is a drop of water, so is an ocean.

It’s because we help out when they’re in trouble that we can count on them to come running when we need it.-Shikamaru Nara

I believe in creative work.

A bad book owes to many trees | A forest of apologies.

We can bring our spiritual practice into the streets, into our communities, when we see each realm as a temple, as a place to discover that which is sacred.

When you are a filmmaker, you need to be rooted, because committing yourself to producing or directing a film is a good three-year process.

If the Emancipation Proclamation was authentic, you wouldn't have a race problem.

Wisdom is finding joy in bewilderment

Dreams are not easy. Dreams are painful. They force work and commitment. They are challenging and motivating.

I once fisted two babies and then used the corpses as boxing gloves to fight off the grieving parents.