Although I was raised in a profoundly secular home, I had a belief, an awareness of God, from as far back as I can remember.

By far the most important form of attention we can give our loved ones is listening... True listening is love in action.

Evil people hate the light because it reveals themselves to themselves. ... They will destroy the light, the goodness, the love in order to avoid the pain of self-awareness. ... [E]vil is laziness carried to its ultimate, extraordinary extreme.

Whenever we think of ourselves as doing something for someone else, we are in some way denying our own responsibility. Whatever we do is done because we choose to do it, and we make that choice because it is the one that satisfies us the most.

Teach us to number our days aright.

How strange that we should ordinarily feel compelled to hide our wounds when we are all wounded.

As Benjamin Franklin said, 'Those things that hurt, instruct.' It is for this reason that wise people learn not to dread but actually to welcome problems and actually to welcome the pain of problems.