To me success means effectiveness in the world, that I am able to carry my ideas and values into the world--that I am able to change it in positive ways.

I learned to shoot more accurately because my teachers held the targets.

I learned to make my mind large, as the universe is large, so that there is room for paradoxes. Petals are bone marrow; pearls come from oysters. The dragon lives in the sky, ocean, marshes, and mountains; and the mountains are also its cranium. Its voice thunders and jingles like copper pans. It breathes fire and water; and sometimes the dragon is one, sometimes many.

To shut the door at the end of the workday, which does not spill over into evening. To throw away books after reading them so theydon't have to be dusted. To go through boxes on New Year's Eve and throw out half of what is inside. Sometimes for extravagance to pick a bunch of flowers for the one table. Other women besides me must have this daydream about a carefree life.

I'd like to go to New Society Village someday and find out exactly how far I can walk before people stop talking like me.

In a time of destruction, create something.

You can't eat straight A's.