Self-pity dries up our sympathy for others.

Pain narrows consciousness; pleasure blurs it.

When Medusa looks in the mirror, she sees the Lady of Sorrows.

My passions have never jumped out of the fireplace and set fire to the carpet.

Retirement requires the invention of a new hedonism, not a return to the hedonism of youth

The sewing machine joins what the scissors have cut asunder, plus whatever else comes in its path.

Clothes make a statement. Costumes tell a story.

The laughter of the aphorism is sometimes triumphant, but seldom carefree.

'Be faithful to your roots' is the liberal version of 'Stay in your ghetto.'

Every day begins with an act of courage and hope: getting out of bed.

Totem poles and wooden masks no longer suggest tribal villages but fashionable drawing rooms in New York and Paris.

Some mysteries are meant to stay that way.

You can learn what you want to learn through hard work. And a good employer will teach you what you want to learn as long as you show the right attitude and behaviors.

The thing about parenting rules is there aren't any. That's what makes it so difficult.

I've never heard my dad say a bad word about anybody. He always keeps his emotions in check and is a true gentleman. I was taught that losing it was indulgent, a selfish act.

I like a President who tells jokes instead of appointing them.

If religion is onlya garment of Christianityand even this garment has looked very different at different timesthen what is religionless Christianity?

All the water in the world cannot drown you unless it gets inside of you.

Today, blood work and science are able to provide more of a movie of your health, identifying trends before they become an issue.

I used to think about how I was conceived quite a lot when I was about 10 or 11, but I don't think about it at all now that so many other babies have been born in the same way.

The littlest thing can have the strongest connection when you're grieving. Your Proustian, poetic nerve is turned up to ten.