I can only see life as this most miserable accident that I have been forced to endure simply because I refuse to see it as the most astounding plan that I have been privileged to engage.

We ask, ‘Why the need for God?’ Maybe the better question is ‘Why the need not to need Him?’ And could it be that that question in fact evidences our need for Him?

You are not made in ‘your image’. You are, in fact, made in ‘God’s image’. Therefore, which one are you looking for when you look in the mirror?

If I’ve prayed, I never have to worry about being the first one to show up.

In the end, if we don't have God we don't have anything other than an end.

The darkness that follows a sunset is never so dark that it can change the inevitability of a sunrise.

Faith is rare because fear is rampant. For faith will demand that I step into places that fear itself fears to go.

Forgiveness allows the burdens that we carry to become the histories that we forget.

When we choose to stay down, we are in reality confusing wisdom with cowardice. When we choose to stand back up, we are using wisdom to overcome cowardice.

I can arrogantly brag that the doors I choose in life open wide and grant me unobstructed passage. But the widest doors tend to lead to the worst places.

A compass calibrated by my greed is a rather shrewd way to legitimize my agenda. However, true north on a compass such as this is a straight line to the edge of a really big cliff.

Isolated people, those who live alone, are always conscious of their condition in the homes of families.

One thorn of experience is worth a whole wilderness of warning.

I love Chicago. I have big investments in Chicago, and I think it's a great city.

Do today what you want for your tomorrows

These papers of the day have uses more adequate to the purposes of common life than more pompous and durable volumes.

If there are people who like the work you've done, because of that, they like you and want your autograph and to take a photo, that's really gratifying. You have to be appreciative.

I guess what I want to say to us artists and entrepreneurs is that conventional yardsticks of success don't apply to all enterprises. Labors of love count.

Politics are close to me, but there are different ways of participating in politics.

As long as you're fully present in what you're doing at the moment, you're doing it.

Success is having people love you that you want to have love you.