Truly great people emit a light that warms the hearts of those around them. When that light has been put out, a heavy shadow of despair descends.

This is what it means to be loved... when someone wants to touch you, to be tender.

Things look different depending on your perspective. As I see it, fighting to bridge those gaps isn't what really matters. The most important thing is to know them inside and out, as differences, and to understand why certain people are the way they are.

When someone tells you something big, it's like you're taking money from them, and there's no way it will ever go back to being the way it was. You have to take responsibility for listening.

Recognizing how totally ignorant you are is the only honest way to deal with people who've been through something traumatic.

As I grow older, much older, I will experience many things, and I will hit rock bottom again and again. Again and again I will suffer; again and again I will get back on my feet. I will not be defeated. I won't let my spirit be destroyed.

In the uncertain ebb and flow of time and emotions much of one's life history is etched in the senses.