The great Sufi poet and philosopher Rumi once advised his students to write down the three things they most wanted in life. If any item on the list clashes with any other item, Rumi warned, you are destined for unhappiness.

Change is all about motion, motion is all about uncertainty and we are deeply uncomfortable with uncertainty.

So sadness is a place?' Giovanni asked. 'Sometimes people live there for years,'I said.

Dear me, how I love a library.

No experience in this world has ever been cathartic without the willing participation of the individual. Life does not automatically bestow wisdom or growth upon anyone just for showing up.

The thing that I do try to convey is, don't do what I did - but ask what I asked.

Every few years, I think, 'Maybe now I'm finally smart enough or sophisticated enough to understand 'Ulysses.'' So I pick it up and try it again. And by page 10, as always, I'm like, 'What the hell?'