Leaving home in a sense involves a kind of second birth in which we give birth to ourselves.

We never get to the bottom of ourselves on our own. We discover who we are face to face and side by side with others in work, love and learning.

We have to treat others as part of who we are, rather than as a 'them' with whom we are in constant competition.

That happiness is to be attained through limitless material acquisition is denied by every religion and philosophy known to mankind, but is preached incessantly by every American television set.

...for limited purposes only, let me define religion as a set of symbolic forms and acts which relate man to the ultimate conditions of his existence.

However painful the process of leaving home, for parents and for children, the really frightening thing for both would be the prospect of the child never leaving home.

The central icon of Catholic Christianity is mother and child. That motif is so deep in not just our human experience but in our animal, biological past.

Our culture is at a critical cusp - a time that requires that we define what it means to be a citizen in a democracy. Within our nation we need to foster a greater sense of collective responsibility.

The family is in flux, and signs of trouble are widespread. Expectations remain high. But realities are disturbing.

It's clear all the way through history that practices are primary and beliefs are secondary.

The problem of the universal is difficult in every case. The universal and the particular can never be separated; they always go hand in hand.

As my hair fell free, Cortez entwined his fingers in it and kissed me even harder. Then he slipped one hand from my hair and snapped his fingers over our heads. The lights went out.

He smiled and bent forward, a hand on each knee, his truculence gleaming through his smile like a stone under water.

I saw the Stones three years ago at the Wiltern Theater in L.A. and that was mind blowing.

Afghanistan is going to be here a long time, and what's critical is that Afghanistan's relationship with its neighbors are, to the maximum extent they can be, constructive and operationally useful.

Creativity flourishes when we have a sense of safety and self-acceptance.

Every life can be learned from, as either a flame of hope or a cautionary flare.

Wherever you may go, the least plant may bring you clear remembrance of the Creator.

Every writer is a writer of the generation before.

There's nothing so comfortable as a small bankroll. A big one is always in danger.

Children are the world's future, and we need to take care of them like we would any precious resource.