“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

It’s a mistake to think that we have to be lovely to be loved by human beings or by God.

Peace means far more than the opposite of war.

Everyone longs to be loved. And the greatest thing we can do is to let people know that they are loved and capable of loving.

There is no normal life that is free of pain. It’s the very wrestling with our problems that can be the impetus for our growth.

I hope you’re proud of yourself for the times you’ve said “yes,” when all it meant was extra work for you and was seemingly helpful only to someone else.

The connections we make in the course of a life, maybe that’s what heaven is.

Love and trust, in the space between what’s said and what’s heard in our life, can make all the difference in the world.

Life is for service.

Love isn’t a state of perfect caring. It is an active noun like struggle. To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now.

Love begins with listening.

The greatest gift you ever give is your honest self.

All I know to do is to light the candle that has been given to me.

Try your best to make goodness attractive. That’s one of the toughest assignments you’ll ever be given.

The child is in me still and sometimes not so still.

Imagine what our real neighborhoods would be like if each of us offered, just one kind word to another person.

When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary.

Boys, Laila came to see, treated friendship the way they treated the sun: its existence undisputed; its radiance best enjoyed, not beheld directly.

When I started, I was 23 years old directing my own music videos; I’m co-producing on my album; I’m hands-on with everything. I’m more than just a pretty boy: I’m an artist. I’m not saying I’m a hip-hop music artist, I’m an artiste.

When I was a boy, I would ask about my family history, about my bloodlines. We really didn’t know that much. We had a little Indian in us from the Oklahoma Trail of Tears.

I look and there’s our boy from Vietnam and our daughter from Ethiopia, and our girl was born in Namibia, and our son is from Cambodia, and they’re brothers and sisters, man. They’re brothers and sisters and it’s a sight for elation.

Every puppy should have a boy.

When looking for a life partner, my advice to women is date all of them: the bad boys, the cool boys, the commitment-phobic boys, the crazy boys. But do not marry them. The things that make the bad boys sexy do not make them good husbands.

I was never very interested in boys – and there were plenty of them – vying with one another to see how many famous women they would get into the hay.

Whenever anything went wrong at home, because I was the only boy, I would get blamed for it straight away. Girls stick together.