I definitely think with a lot of hard work, I can be a better player than I was last year, and hopefully, continue to raise the bar every year.

I constantly try to humble myself; if you don't, I'm sure the game is going to find a way to humble you.

When you're a first-round pick and you get to the big leagues at 22, there's almost a sense that you've got to mature.

There have been some ups and downs, but I'm happy that I've stayed fairly consistent.

I like to set realistic goals for myself, not outrageous ones.

I spent a lot of hours on the baseball field doing whatever I could do to get better.

I have a little moral trouble with the term “mankind”, as it possesses an innate gender bias, which I cannot approve of, hence, I prefer the term “humanity” over it, and the term “human” over “man”.

Nostalgia can be more painful than a surgeon's knife.

Insurance companies sell what might happen tomorrow. Historians sell what certainly happened yesterday.

Each religion, by the help of more or less myth, which it takes more or less seriously, proposes some method of fortifying the human soul and enabling it to make its peace with its destiny.

One sad thing about this world is that the acts that take the most out of you are usually the ones that people will never know about. (from 'Celestial Navigation')

In the most civilized and progressive countries freedom of discussion is recognized as a fundamental principle.

If we do not love one another, we certainly shall not have much power with God in prayer.

Do not be sad that you have suffered, be glad that you have lived.

Good storytelling appeals to me - good writing.

I don't know why people think I'm polished - I often leave the house with buttons missing and ladders in my tights.