"Arguing that God doesn't exist would be like people in the 10th century arguing that germs and microbes didn't exist because they couldn't see them."

"Do you remember when you were 10 or 11 years old and you really thought your folks were the best? They were completely omniscient and you took their word for everything. And then you got older and you went through this hideous age when suddenly they were the devil, they were bullies, and they didn't know anything."

"The only difference between suicide and martyrdom is press coverage."

"I wanted to write about the moment when your addictions no longer hide the truth from you. When your whole life breaks down. That's the moment when you have to somehow choose what your life is going to be about."

"I must lose myself in action, lest I wither in despair."

"Do not wait for favorable winds; take the oars and row toward your horizon. A lesson woven into the fabric of human history — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"When you put down the good things you ought to have done, and leave out the bad ones you did do well, that's Memoirs."

"Although I don't have a prescription for what others should do, I know I have been very fortunate and feel a responsibility to give back to society in a very significant way."