“Sincerity and honesty carry one through many difficulties which all the arts he can invent would never help him through.”

Philosophers and common heathen believed one God, to whom all things were referred; but under this God they worshipped many inferior and subservient gods.

A story should, to please, at least seem true, Be apropos, well told, concise, and new: And whenso’er it deviates from these rules, The wise will sleep, and leave applause to fools.

Nothing enlarges the gulf of atheism more than the wide passage that lies between the faith and lives of men pretending to teach Christianity.

Prayer among men is supposed a means to change the person to whom we pray; but prayer to God doth not change him, but fits us to receive the things prayed for.

See how the skilful lover spreads his toils.

Peace and wickedness are far asunder.

Astrological prayers seem to me to be built on as good reason as the predictions.

I hope that I can make music that helps people in some way or that they can connect with, and that I can just live a life where I’m surrounded by people that I love.

An important verity about knowledge is that the brain works most effectively with consciously retained information. We more easily remember what we want to recall later.

When the praying does no good, insurance does help.

I just like the child’s nightmares and therapy, once an experience has found the light of day I’m no longer under its spell, I’m free to tell it. I hope in telling honestly I can in some way help other people to do so also.

If we acknowledge our need for God, he will help us.

Being a poet in the States is quite different from being one in China, because in the States poetry depends on the universities for its support. They finance the poets and help them get published. That isn’t so in China. But overall it is the same. You can’t change society with poetry.

If you see what you do each day as your way of loving the world and helping it heal, then life gets to be a lot different. The difference between burning up and burning out is the difference between loving what you are doing and not loving it.

I have to come to realize that God does not want to punish us, but rather, to fulfill our lives. God created us, loves us and wants to help us to realize our potential so that we can be useful to others.