It wasn’t in books. It wasn’t in a church. What I needed to know was out there in the world.

My secret agenda is to convey my values to my kids.

I've always made a clear distinction between making a life and making a living.

The gift was not large as money goes, and my need was not great, but the spirit of the gift is beyond price and leaves me blessed and in debt.

And sure, I know if you eat this way you'll die. So? If you don't eat this way you're still going to die. Why not die happy?

One of the very few reasons I had any respect for my mother when I was thirteen was because she would reach into the sink with her bare hands - bare hands - and pick up that lethal gunk and drop it into the garbage. To top that, I saw her reach into the wet garbage bag and fish around in there looking for a lost teaspoon. Bare hands - a kind of mad courage.

It’s the spirit here that counts. The time may be long, the vehicle may be strange or unexpected. But if the dream is held close to the heart, and imagination is applied to what there is close at hand, everything is still possible.