I wake up in the morning and I see that flower, with the dew on its petals, and at the way it's folding out, and it makes me happy, she said. It's important to focus on the things in the here and now, I think. In a month, the flower will be shriveled and you will miss its beauty if you don't make the effort to do it now. Your life, eventually, is the same way.

You rarely get satisfaction sitting in an easy chair. If you work in a garden on the other hand, and it yields beautiful tomatoes, that's a good feeling.

You have to know why you get up every morning.

The brutal reality about aging is that it has only an accelerator pedal. We have yet to discover whether a brake exists for people.

A doctor may know more than a peasant, but a peasant and a doctor know more together.

Having a purpose and knowing exactly what your values are will add additional years to your life.

It's hard to reach [the age of] 100. We're not programmed for longevity. We are programmed for something called procreative success.