Beauty must appeal to the senses, must provide us with immediate enjoyment, must impress us or insinuate itself into us without any effort on our part.
Presumption should never make us neglect that which appears easy to us, nor despair make us lose courage at the sight of difficulties.
Reading makes immigrants of us all. It takes us away from home, but more important, it finds homes for us everywhere.
Wisely used history can give pleasure and provide us with a useful tool; but we should not become its slaves.
When I was a boy, I used to pull a big cross saw with my dad. He'd use his right hand, so I'd have to use my left.
I believe there are certain things that God uses to get us out of a bad situation, and I believe music was one of the things he used for me.
Give us what belongs to us in peace, and if you don't give it to us in peace, we will take it by force.
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
I use Redken color on my hair and use mild shampoos that don't strip your hair of color. If I need to, I'll use a good colored mousse in between.
Let us not seek to bring religion to others, but let us endeavor to live it ourselves.
Morality binds people into groups. It gives us tribalism, it gives us genocide, war, and politics. But it also gives us heroism, altruism, and sainthood.
I used to want to be a war photographer, and I used to want to be a ballerina and a comedian. I used to want to be a writer. I invalidated myself; it's a mistake for me.
If we are to wield great magic, then let us learn from great teachers: the alchemists -- magicians par excellence.
The change most needed in our lives isn't change in our situations and relationships but in us. The thing God is most intent on rescuing us from is ourselves.
Family likeness has often a deep sadness in it. Nature, that great tragic dramatist, knits us together by bone and muscle, and divides us by the subtler web of our brains; blends yearning and repulsion; and ties us by our heart-strings to the beings ...
If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?". - (Act III, scene I).
Mom used to tell us stories of these bogeymen when we were kids, and Lizzy would crawl into my bed so she could fall asleep. Stories of the monsters who forced us underground, and when the force field faltered, would snatch us from our homes.
A few of us are extraverts. A few of us are introverts. But most of us are ambiverts, sitting near the middle, not the edges, happily attuned to those around us. In some sense, we are born to sell.
Nature is also God's way of communicating with us. Jesus himself used nature to teach us about God. He used birds and flowers, the weather, precious stones...Looking at nature, we can come to understand God himself.
Prayer mirrors the gospel. In the gospel, the Father takes us as we are and gives us his gift of salvation. In prayer, the Father receives us as we are because of Jesus and gives us his gift of help.
The enduring attraction of war is this: Even with its destruction and carnage it can give us what we long for in life. It can give us purpose, meaning, a reason for living.
