Contempt for failure is our cardinal virtue.

I love memoirs, particularly obscure ones because the writer is usually a regular guy just telling what happened to him and to his friends. What these tales lack in artfulness they make up for in passion and authenticity. For a writer of fiction, they are solid gold. I have stolen so much from memoirs it's ridiculous.

Writers think in metaphors. Editors work in metaphors. A great reader reads in metaphors.

It's one thing to lie to ourselves. It's another thing to believe it.

When we conquer our fears, we discover a boundless, bottomless, inexhaustible well of passion.

This man has conquered the world! What have you done?" The philosopher replied without an instant's hesitation, "I have conquered the need to conquer the world.

Long-term, we must begin to build our internal strengths. It isn't just skills like computer technology. It's the old-fashioned basics of self-reliance, self-motivation, self-reinforcement, self-discipline, self-command.