Use fear to become braver, pain to become stronger, trials to become wiser, and misfortune to become better.

A genuine smile is one of the world’s rarest treasures.

A fish that is afraid of drowning in a river is ignorant of its gifts.

A diamond earns its sparkle from the pressure it endures.

It is in the storm, not the calm, that a rainbow is born.

A determined seed cannot be hidden from the world, not even by dirt.

Calm skies don't make skillful eagles.

If you cry in the rain, only the sky will see your tears.

Birds keep singing beautiful songs, even if they have no audience.

Today's storms help you appreciate tomorrow’s sunshine.

Train the ears to hear more, the eyes to see more, the hands to do more, the feet to accomplish more, the mind to think more, the heart to feel more, and the soul to love more.

Life becomes involuntary repetitive when you suffer from short term memory loss.

Instrumental music is increasingly marginalized.

I've tried very hard and I've never found any resemblance between the people I know and the people in my novels.

The force of mind is only as great as its expression; its depth only as deep as its power to expand and lose itself.

I'm conservative, but I'm not a nut about it.

One reads alone, even in another's presence.

Only those willing to do what the very few do will get the rewards that the very few get.

We're releasing hardened criminals from jails all over California. They don't have the money. They don't have the room anymore. The jails are overflowing so we gotta get rid of somebody.

Discerning our personal gifts is essential if we are to experience harmony in our lives.