I define the American dream as the ability to imagine a way that you want your life to turn out, and have a reasonable hope that you can achieve that.
Expect to have hope rekindled. Expect your prayers to be answered in wondrous ways. The dry seasons in life do not last. The spring rains will come again.
Our idea of happiness, some of it, is very tied to the cult of celebrity: there is this golden, wonderful life that I want, and if I dress like that, I'm on my way there.
There are other ways of finding satisfaction, recipes for human happiness, enjoyment, dignified and meaningful, gratifying life, than increased consumption that increases production.
The Bible interprets life from its particular perspective; it does not record in a factual way the human journey through history.
We have not invaded anyone. We have not conquered anyone. We have not grabbed their land, their culture, their history and tried to enforce our way of life on them.
Form is, in a way, death. A novelist's obligation is to break free from the form, even though he knows that this will also be seen as artificial and distanced from life.
I led a comfortable life, went to good schools and was privileged in many ways, but my father worked hard. We never considered ourselves rich.
No government, no organisation, no citizen can afford to be less than vigilant in combating bigotry, intolerance and hatred. And frankly, our way of life depends on that vigilance.
Writing reminds you of how much there is in your life that stands outside your explanations. In that way, it's almost a journey into faith and doubt at once.
Kiwis must not fall behind the standards of other countries. We pride ourselves on our quality of life. Thus we must pave the road in the right way for the future generations.
The most difficult problems are naturally not involved in the search for forms for contemporary life. It is a question of working our way to forms behind which real human values lie.
There is only one way in which one can endure man's inhumanity to man and that is to try, in one's own life, to exemplify man's humanity to man.
With the supermarket as our temple and the singing commercial as our litany, are we likely to fire the world with an irresistible vision of America's exalted purpose and inspiring way of life?
I have to admit that I am really partial to the look and feel of a book. I have been that way my entire life.
I see my job as being to facilitate the life of clinical researchers so that they can be more productive, and trying to keep the bureaucracy from getting in their way.
I can only say that in life when you have the greatest expectations and you try to do things the right way, it doesn't always work out.
Life is easy when you're hot. But what happens when the ball bounces the other way? You just keep getting back up and climbing up.
People nearly always believe, and are willing to back it up with weapons and cruelty, that their religion and way of life is better than the other person's.
Of course life is bizarre, the more bizarre it gets, the more interesting it is. The only way to approach it is to make yourself some popcorn and enjoy the show.
I thought to myself, there's a man who gave up his life to serve others - to touch people in that way is probably the greatest thing you can do as a human being.
