Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean.

If you must look back, do so forgivingly. If you will look forward, do so prayerfully. But the wisest course would be to be present in the present gratefully.

If you were the President of the United States or the Queen of England - you couldn't have a person who would be more protective than my mother was for me. Which meant really that I could dare to do all sorts of things.

One of the saddest things in the world is to see a cynical young person.

Whining is not only graceless, but it can be dangerous. It can alert a brute that a victim is in the neighborhood.

Oh, the holiness of always being the injured party. The historically oppressed can find not only sanctity but safety in the stateof victimization. When access to a better life has been denied often enough, and successfully enough, one can use the rejection as an excuse to cease all efforts. After all, one reckons, "they" don't want me, "they" accept their own mediocrity and refuse my best, "they" don't deserve me.

Ain't nothin' to it, but to do it.