Writing just for the hell of it is heaven.

Growth is an erratic forward movement: two steps forward, one step back. Remember that and be very gentle with yourself.

What we really want to do is what we are really meant to do. When we do what we are meant to do, money comes to us, doors open for us, we feel useful, and the work we do feels like play to us.

The voice of our original self is often muffled, overwhelmed, even strangled, by the voices of other people’s expectations.

I have learned, as a rule of thumb, never to ask whether you can do something. Say, instead, that you are doing it. Then fasten your seat belt. The most remarkable things follow.

Perfectionism is not a quest for the best. It is a pursuit of the worst in ourselves, the part that tells us that nothing we do will ever be good enough - that we should try again.

It takes constant vigilance not to slip into negativity or simple apathy. It takes courage to believe over any given period of time that we are getting better and not sliding into decline.

As you move toward a dream, the dream moves toward you.

Creativity requires faith. Faith requires that we relinquish control.

If we lean into what we love instead of soldiering toward what we 'should,' our pace quickens, our energy rises, optimism sets in. What we love is nutritious for us.

What we focus on, we empower and enlarge. Good multiplies when focused upon. Negativity multiplies when focused upon. The choice is ours: Which do we want more of?

We find what's in our own heads.

The humor section is the last place an author wants to be. They put your stuff next to collections of Cathy cartoons.

I worked with a group of people who argued day and night - professors, officials, the Minister of Finance - but there were decisions that I had to make.

Whoever moves into a community has a vested interest in it.

If you can't solve it, it's not a problem - it's reality.

You know," Kirk said finally, breaking the silence. "I see it. He is pretty hot.

The single greatest effect on student achievement is not race, it is not poverty - it is the effectiveness of the teacher.

A nation' s strength ultimately consists in what it can do on its own, and not in what it can borrow from others.

The paper nominated me 12 or 13 times for the Pulitzer Prize.

If the jests that you crack have an orthodox smack, You may get a bland smile from these sages; But should it, by chance, be imported from France, Half-a-crown is stopped out of your wages!