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

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

I am stronger than depression and I am braver than loneliness and nothing will ever exhaust me.

Clearing out all your misery gets you out of the way. You cease being an obstacle, not only to yourself but to anyone else. Only then are you free to serve and enjoy other people.

I feel like if I were to get another tattoo, it would probably be those two words. Just stubborn, stubborn, stubborn gladness.

It seems obvious that there comes period in your life when you have to learn to say no to things you don't want to do. But the biggest trickiest lesson in holding on the stalwart committment to your creativity is learning how to say no to the things you do want to do.

My life's accomplishments? Sanity, and you.