"Your attitude is like a box of crayons that color your world. Constantly color your picture gray, and your picture will always be bleak. Try adding some bright colors to the picture by including humor, and your picture begins to lighten up."

"When we are dealing with death we are constantly being dragged down by the event: Humor diverts our attention and lifts our sagging spirits."

"Humor does not diminish the pain - it makes the space around it get bigger."

"A little perspective, like a little humor, goes a long way."

"You can never guess or assume what anyone is going to think."

"Something I've realized lately, to my shock, is that I am an optimist, in that I think humans are almost infinitely capable of self-change and self-modification, and that we really can build the future that we want if we're smart about it."

"A quiet mind perceives the subtle truths that noisy ambitions constantly drown out. Remember this in moments of decisive trial — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"Genteel women suppose that those things do not really exist about which it is impossible to talk in polite company."