You can't get there alone. People have to help you, and I do believe in karma. I believe in paybacks. You get people to help you by telling the truth, by being earnest.

There are respectful, considerate things that can be done in life that will be appreciated by the recipient, and only good things can result.

I don't suffer from an abundance of politeness.

The great thing about working out at a gym is that if you put in effort, you get very obvious results. The same should be true of college. A professor’s job is to teach students how to see their minds growing in the same way they can see their muscles grow when they look in a mirror.

Don't bail; the best pieces of gold are at the bottom of the barrel of crap.

You can't control the cards you're dealt, just how you play the hand.

I'm a professor - there should be some lessons learned - and how you can use the stuff you hear today to enable your dreams or enable the dreams of others. And as you get older you may find that enabling-the-dreams-of-others thing is even more fun.