Human life is as evanescent as the morning dew or a flash of lightning.

Life is like playing a violin solo in public and learning the instrument as one goes on.

If I die prematurely at any rate I shall be saved from being bored to death by my own success.

Life is like music; it must be composed by ear, feeling, and instinct, not by rule.

Creativity is so delicate a flower that praise tends to make it bloom, while discouragement often nips it in the bud.

Don't learn to do, but learn in doing.

Fear is static that prevents me from hearing myself.

The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too.

People care more about being thought to have taste than about being thought either good, clever or amiable.

Let us be grateful to the mirror for revealing to us our appearance only.

Those who have never had a father can at any rate never know the sweets of losing one. To most men the death of his father is a new lease of life.

When you're scared, you stay as you are!

In order to change the world, you have to get your head together first.

Poetry speaks most effectively and inclusively (whether in free or formal verse) when it recognizes its connection - without apology - to its musical and ritualistic origins.

You know whether you have a real relationship with the president when you know it's real.

To be young is to live in the hope of escaping youth; to be old, in the despair of having succeeded.

Reasons for not keeping a notebook: 1) the ambiguity of the reader

Yes, I see the Church as the body of Christ. But, oh! How we have blemished and scarred that body through social neglect and through fear of being nonconformists.

I look for roles that show women as independent, informed, and free to make their own decisions.

I really consider myself very fortunate over the years to have the experiences that I had and to be able to come out on top tonight means the world. It's been a long road and it's a lot of hard.

Today it is not nearly enough to be a saint, but we must have the saintliness demanded by the present moment, a new saintliness, itself also without precedent.