Which would be worse - to live as a monster, or to die as a good man?

Grief, he said, is carnivorous.

Charm was the luxury of those who still believed in the essential rightness of things. In purity and picket fences.

Happiness doesn't lie in conspicuous consumption and the relentless amassing of useless crap. Happiness lies in the person sitting beside you and your ability to talk to them. Happiness is clear-headed human interaction and empathy. Happiness is home. And home is not a house-home is a mythological conceit. It is a state of mind. A place of communion and unconditional love. It is where, when you cross its threshold, you finally feel at peace.

I was blessed to grow up in really interesting times and to go back to a home where I was very safe.

The brain controls pain. It controls fear. Sleep. Empathy. Hunger. Everything we associate with the heart or the soul or the nervous system is actually controlled by the brain. Everything. What if you could control it?

The foundation of your life is luck. Hard work and talent make up the difference.