The smells of Christmas are the smells of childhood [p. 53]

I don't want to go to Peru. "How do you know? You've never been there." I've never been to hell either and I'm pretty sure I don't want to go there.

In your hurry to keep Christmas, you have forgotten Christmas. The truest gift of Christmas is the gift of self.

Usually life’s greatest gifts come wrapped in adversity.

There's a problem with marrying up. You always worry that someday they'll see through you and leave. Or, worse yet, someone better will come along and take her. In my case, it wasn't someone. And it wasn't something better.

We humans are born egocentric. The sky thunders and children believe that God is mad at them for something they've done - parents divorce and children believe it's their fault for not being good enough. Growing up means putting aside our egocentricity for truth. Still, some people cling to this childish mind-set. As painful as their self-flagellation may be, they'd rather believe their crises are their fault so they can believe they have control. In doing so they make fools and false gods of themselves.

Some men see mountains as obstacles. Others as a canvas.