Men and women are very different athletes, and frankly, I didn't want to deal with the male potential.

I read for growth, firmly believing that what you are today and what you will be in five years depends on two things: the people you meet and the books you read.

Limits are a secret blessing, and bounty can be a curse.

I began to discriminate between fear and excitement. The two, though very close, are completely different. Fear is negative excitement, choking your imagination. Real excitement produces an energy that overcomes apprehension and makes you want to close in on your goal.

There really is nothing I ever had access to that I didn't appreciate.

Without passion, all the skill in the world won't lift you above craft. Without skill, all the passion in the world will leave you eager but floundering. Combining the two is the essence of the creative life.

Confidence is a trait that has to be earned honestly and refreshed constantly; you have to work as hard to protect your skills as you did to develop them. . . The one thing that creative souls around the world have in common is that they all have to practice to maintain their skills. Art is a vast democracy of habit.