I always have an optimistic view, no matter what it is.

Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into.

No; we have been as usual asking the wrong question. It does not matter a hoot what the mockingbird on the chimney is singing. The real and proper question is: Why is it beautiful?

From my standpoint, being an artist, I want to see what the new construction is between artist and audience.

I don’t see that my majority opinions are going to be undone.

Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen.

On a spiritual level, it’s as though with my sighted eye I see what’s before me, and with my unsighted eye I see what’s hidden. It’s illuminated life more than darkened it.

All partisan movements add to the fullness of our understanding of society as a whole. They never detract; or, in any case, one must not allow them to do so. Experience adds to experience.

You are the universe, you aren’t in the universe.

Do not seek to bring things to pass in accordance with your wishes, but wish for them as they are, and you will find them.

The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you can see.

Life would pall if it were all sugar; salt is bitter if taken by itself; but when tasted as part of the dish, it savours the meat. Difficulties are the salt of life.

I don’t want to impugn the motives of my colleagues, but my attitude is, speaking just for me, you either believe in border security or you don’t.

People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.

In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they’re still beautiful.

Sometimes, wearing a scarf and a polo coat and no makeup and with a certain attitude of walking, I go shopping or just look at people living. But then, you know, there will be a few teenagers who are kind of sharp, and they’ll say, ‚Hey, just a minute. You know who I think that is?‘ And they’ll start tailing me. And I don’t mind.

See, when you drive home today, you’ve got a big windshield on the front of your car. And you’ve got a little bitty rearview mirror. And the reason the windshield is so large and the rearview mirror is so small is because what’s happened in your past is not near as important as what’s in your future.

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.

There can be no better grounding for a lifetime as an author than to see humanity in all its various guises through the lens of the reporter for the town.

I’ve got a feeling that music might not be the most interesting place to be in the world of things.

If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.

The basis of optimism is sheer terror.

Attitude and enthusiasm play a big part in my life. I get excited about the things that inspire me. I also believe in laughing and having a good time.

Our judgments when we are pleased and friendly are not the same as when we are pained and hostile.

These are the soul’s changes. I don’t believe in ageing. I believe in forever altering one’s aspect to the sun. Hence my optimism.

Well look, I mean, I think that prayer and holy water, and things like that are all fine. They don’t do any good, but they don’t necessarily do any harm. It’s touching to be thought of in that way. It makes up for those who tell me that I’ve got my just desserts.

If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.

Some people regard private enterprise as a predatory tiger to be shot. Others look on it as a cow they can milk. Not enough people see it as a healthy horse, pulling a sturdy wagon.

I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong.

Thieves respect property. They merely wish the property to become their property that they may more perfectly respect it.

When a man wants to murder a tiger he calls it sport; when a tiger wants to murder him he calls it ferocity.

The rule is perfect: in all matters of opinion our adversaries are insane.

I could give a flying flip about doing promo because, no disrespect, nobody put me in the position that I’m in.

It’s so much easier to pray for a bore than to go and see one.

Youth cannot know how age thinks and feels. But old men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young.

Death is no more than passing from one room into another. But there’s a difference for me, you know. Because in that other room I shall be able to see.

My ultimate goal is to end up being happy. Most of the time.

I like gaps; all my stories have gaps. It seems this is the way people’s lives present themselves.

Once you get into this great stream of history, you can’t get out.

When you’re writing a novel, you don’t want the reader to come out of it voting yes or no to some question. Life is more complicated than that. Reality simply consists of different points of view.

I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell.

The minority is sometimes right; the majority always wrong.

What difference does it make how much you have? What you do not have amounts to much more.

When fate hands you a lemon, make lemonade.

Nature and books belong to the eyes that see them.

The way people look at me these days – that’s the same way I looked at President Obama before I met him. We tend to forget that people who’ve attained a certain position are human.

When I see myself as an old woman, I just think about being happy. And hopefully, I’ll still be fly.

People are not disturbed by things, but by the view they take of them.

I feel like the way I was raised was to be able to see through all the titles in this world – from religion to race.

Don’t despair, not even over the fact that you don’t despair.

Life is a song to me.

I try to look on all the great things God’s done, and not focus on the negative. It’s a perspective.

While the crash only took place six months ago, I am convinced we have now passed the worst, and with continued unity of effort, we shall rapidly recover. There is one certainty of the future of a people of the resources, intelligence and character of the people of the United States – that is, prosperity.

The eye of a human being is a microscope, which makes the world seem bigger than it really is.

Who is richer? The man who is seen, but cannot see? Or the man who is not being seen, but can see?

Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing that we see too late the one that is open.

Life is our dictionary.

What you see, but can’t see over is as good as infinite.

People deal too much with the negative, with what is wrong. Why not try and see positive things, to just touch those things and make them bloom?

My age is very insignificant to me. I don’t think about it, but the world does. The world likes young people in general.

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.