I equal parts loved him and could not stand him. I couldn't wake him to share in my distress.

We all want things to stay the same. Settle for living in misery because we are afraid of change, of things crumbling to ruins. Ruin is a gift. Ruin is the road to transformation.

I will not harbor unhealthy thoughts anymore.

There was really only one person who - and I remember to this day - he was a fireman, and he said, "You'll never know what you'll do when you're in a fire." Everyone else was like: "I don't care; I would have saved my children; I could have done it. Even if I was asleep I would have woken up and saved my children." But the fireman said, "You never know what's going to happen unless you're in there."

I have a rigid self-accountability. You have to work hard.

Creativity is a scavenger hunt. It's your obligation to pay attention to clues, to the thing that gives you that little tweak.

I guess what I want to learn is how to live in this world and enjoy its delights but also devote myself to God.