The prospect of death is nature's way of encouraging us to strive for greatness.

Out of all the creatures that roam the earth man is the only one that managed to enslave itself.

There's something inherently comical about the fact that most people want to change other people's lives, while they themselves remain stoic as they loiter in their own shortcomings.

Nobody knows, nobody can ever know, not even in memory, because there are moments in time that are not knowable.

I often wished that more people understood the invisible side of things. Even the people who seemed to understand, didn't really.

When one has extensively pondered about men, as a career or as a vocation, one sometimes feels nostalgic for primates. At least they do not have ulterior motives.

In the '80s, everyone wanted to be in opera. It was groovy.

I have no regrets coming back for a second Olympic team [in 2016]. It's been an amazing experience. It's been teaching me a lot.

Pure innovation is more gross than error.

Whatever liberates our spirit, without also giving us mastery over ourselves, is destructive.

I wish I had a talent for dropping things as well as taking on new ones. It gets to be quite a clutter after a while.

Nobody is smart enough to be wrong all the time.

The peanut is neither a pea nor a nut. Discuss.