O, how much simpler things would be If eyes could paint or brush could see.

In many areas of understanding, none so much as in our understanding of God, we bump up against a simplicity so profound that we must assign complexities to it to comprehend it at all. It is mindful of how we paste decals to a sliding glass door to keep from bumping our nose against it.

Alexandros of Antioch took a block of marble and chiseled away from it everything that was not his masterpiece, the Venus de Milo. If you will chisel away one fault from your character every day, you may discover - a) that you're actually a statue of Margaret Thatcher. b) that you're still just a block of marble. c) that there are pigeon droppings on your shoes. d) that you, too, are a hidden masterpiece.

Today, befriend a stranger, or if you feel up to more of a challenge, befriend a loved one.

See yourself always as cause, and perhaps a better world will be found among your effects.

How do you tell an optimist that he or she has lived a happy life by mistake?

Where you find quality, you will find a craftsman, not a quality-control expert.