Genealogy: A perverse preoccupation of those who seek to demonstrate that their forebears were better people than they are.

The best combination of parents consists of a father who is gentle beneath his firmness, and a mother who is firm beneath her gentleness.

The art of listening needs its highest development in listening to oneself; our most important task is to develop an ear that can really hear what we're saying.

We must become masters of our own actions and attitudes. To let another person determine whether we will be rude or gracious, elated or depressed is to give control of ourselves. The only true possession is self possession.

Maturity begins when we're content to feel we're right about something without feeling the necessity to prove someone else wrong.

A truly successful person knows how to overcome the past, use the present, and prepare for the future-but unless we can first surmount the past, we cannot effectively cope with either the present or the future.

Many a secret that cannot be pried out by curiosity can be drawn out by indifference.