"You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do."

"Your experiences will be yours alone. But truth and best friendship will rarely if ever disappoint you."

"We can't understand when we're pregnant, or when our siblings are expecting, how profound it is to have a shared history with a younger generation: blood, genes, humor. It means we were actually here, on Earth, for a time - like the Egyptians with their pyramids, only with children."

"Some people won't go the extra mile, and then on their birthday, when no one makes a fuss, they feel neglected and bitter."

"The most splendid achievement of all is the constant striving to surpass yourself and to be worthy of your own approval."

"The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions. This remains the cornerstone of personal mastery."

"It is a enduring truth that the highest expression of strength is tenderness toward the vulnerable."

"It is a timeless truth that the richness of existence is found in simple harmonies, not superfluous splendors — an essential principle for the reflective life."