Poetry has its uses for despair. It can carve a shape in which a pain can seem to be; it can give one’s loss a form and dimension so that it might be loss and not simply a hopeless haunting. It can do these things for one person, or it can do them ...
A responsible step in loosening the grip of any lie we might be living is to ask ourselves, solemnly and seriously, this momentous question: "Might I be in the wrong?" What gives this question its power? The answer can be stated very simply: Just to ...
He believed that life gives us all a few moments of happiness. For some they last hours or days, for a few lucky ones they last for years. The memories from those moments stays with us forever and turns into a country of memory to which we try to go ...
As a scholar, you don't want to repeat yourself, ever. You're supposed to say it once, publish it, and then it's published, and you don't say it again. If someone comes and gives a scholarly paper about something they've already published, that's jus...
I was creating commitment devices of my own long before I knew what they were. So when I was a starving post-doc at Columbia University, I was deep in a publish-or-perish phase of my career. I had to write five pages a day towards papers, or I would ...
I would say that all our sciences are the material that has to be mythologized. A mythology gives spiritual import - what one might call rather the psychological, inward import, of the world of nature round about us, as understood today. There's no r...
One of the most under-rated gifts we can give to others, is our undivided attention. Next time you spend time with a loved one, really listen to them and watch light up when they realize you are being completely attentive to them. There is so much to...
I give off rather mixed messages about the law. On the one hand, I can honestly say I don't miss working in a law office. On the other hand I do enjoy watching the law and while the profession may have its problems, I have sold zillions of books out ...
Trials come to each of us. Living righteously does not mean that our lives will be free of problems or sorrow, but no matter what hardships we face we can always rely on Heavenly Father and His son. They will not forsake us, and They will give each o...
I’ve said for years — ever since I figured out how to write Goblin Hero — that it’s important to give yourself permission to write crap. Perfection is the destroyer of art. It’s paralyzing. Art, whether it’s writing or painting or anythin...
I have always thought that work is as common and fine as air, something that we become a part of. I am drawn to the out of doors, to the ordinary pleasures of everyday work. Alice used to say that if I was a bird I'd be the first one to sing, the way...
Jame "Buffalo Bill" Gumb: It rubs the lotion on its skin. It does this whenever it's told. Catherine Martin: Please mister, let me go! My family will give you anything you want! Jame "Buffalo Bill" Gumb: It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets...
Some writers are more natural public performers than others; personally I find it quite strange giving interviews. But everyone has parts of their job that they like more than others. You can't complain if you get to do what you love doing most of th...
[to Rotelli's charred and smoldering corpse] Joker: Your pals, uh, they're not bad people. Maybe we, uh, outta give them a couple of days to think it over. [shakes head] Joker: No? [looks surprised] Joker: Grease 'em now? Well, OK. You are a vicious ...
I don't know whether I have ideas all the time. I think I'm curious about things all the time; I think I'm always curious, and I think I'm always interested in whatever passes by, and I know I tend to think about things, and I tend to talk about thin...
Clifford Stern: While we're waiting for a cab I'll give you your lesson for today. Don't listen to what your teachers tell ya, you know. Don't pay attention. Just, just see what they look like and that's how you'll know what life is really gonna be l...
Clark: [Clark is about to cut the rope holding the branches of his huge Christmas tree] I give you the Griswold family Christmas tree. [He cuts the rope, and the branches fly out, breaking windows and surrounding Clark] Clark: Lotta sap in here! Mmmm...
Gru: Oh, attitude. That's right. So thanks but no thanks. And here's a tip: Instead of tasing people and kidnapping them, maybe you should give them a call! Good day, Mr. Sheepsbutt. Silas: Ramsbottom. Gru: [chuckles sarcastically] Yeah, like that's ...
Prawn: We trade [large alien robot suit] Prawn: for ten thousand cans Obesandjo: Give them one hundred cans Obesandjo's Lieutenant: [to Prawn] One hundred! Prawn: Yes, yes, but we take all of them now Obesandjo's Lieutenant: Get them the cat food, hu...
Tony: [describing his dream] So there I am, getting it on with this perfect female body and... Mike: What? Tony: I can't say. Mike: No, you can't give a build-up like that and not deliver. You know, a perfect female body, it's not a bad start. Tony: ...
Sergeant Al Powell: [after the FBI cuts the power to the building] Well, what are we gonna do now? Arrest them for not paying their electric bill? FBI Agent Johnson: We've shut them down. We let 'em sweat for a while, then... we give 'em helicopters....
