“To make mistakes is human; to stumble is commonplace; to be able to laugh at yourself is maturity.”

A pinch of praise is worth a pound of scorn. A dash of encouragement is more helpful than a dipper of pessimism. A cup of kindness is better than a cupboard of criticism.

For each new morning with its light, For rest and shelter of the night, For health and food, for love and friends. Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.

If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it.

We are more than what we do much more than what we accomplish far more than what we possess.

Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you. Love me and I may be forced to love you.

A success is one who decided to succeed and worked. A failure is one who decided to succeed and wished.

To bear defeat with dignity, to accept criticism with poise, to receive honors with humility – these are marks of maturity and graciousness.

We can be resentful of our age, or we can be grateful for having attained it.

Faith is knowing there is an ocean because you have seen a brook.

A friend is one with whom you are comfortable, to whom you are loyal, through whom you are blessed, and for whom you are grateful.

Do more than believe: practice.

Study while others are sleeping; work while others are loafing; prepare while others are playing; and dream while others are wishing.

Encourage me, and I will not forget you.

Once trust is tarnished, it is hard to restore it to its original glow.

Forgiveness is a funny thing. It warms the heart and cools the sting.

God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say ‘thank you?’

We have a choice. We can spend our whole life suffering because we can’t relax with how things really are, or we can relax and embrace the open-endedness of the human situation, which is fresh, unfixated, unbiased.

It is human to sin, but diabolic to persist in sin.

It is a human thing to sin, but perseverance in sin is a thing of the devil.

Paying attention and awareness are universal capacities of human beings.

Dogs can bear more cold than human beings, but they do not like cold any better than we do; and when a dog has his choice, he will very gladly stretch himself on a rug before the fire for his afternoon nap.

Gratitude is the sweetest thing in a seeker’s life- in all human life. If there is gratitude in your heart, then there will be tremendous sweetness in your eyes.

Attention to the human body brings healing and regeneration. Through awareness of the body we remember who we really are.

Literature is where I go to explore the highest and lowest places in human society and in the human spirit, where I hope to find not absolute truth but the truth of the tale, of the imagination and of the heart.