“Since a true knowledge of nature gives us pleasure, a lively imitation of it, either in poetry or painting, must produce a much greater; for both these arts are not only true imitations of nature, but of the best nature.”

Sure there is none but fears a future state; And when the most obdurate swear they do not, Their trembling hearts belie their boasting tongues.

Content with poverty, my soul I arm; And virtue, though in rags, will keep me warm.

Welcome, thou kind deceiver! Thou best of thieves; who, with an easy key, Dost open life, and, unperceived by us, Even steal us from ourselves.

While I am compassed round With mirth, my soul lies hid in shades of grief, Whence, like the bird of night, with half-shut eyes, She peeps, and sickens at the sight of day.

Virtue is her own reward.

Good sense and good-nature are never separated, though the ignorant world has thought otherwise. Good-nature, by which I mean beneficence and candor, is the product of right reason.

Hushed as midnight silence.

They, who would combat general authority with particular opinion, must first establish themselves a reputation of understanding better than other men.

For those whom God to ruin has design’d, He fits for fate, and first destroys their mind.

Blown roses hold their sweetness to the last.

Long pains, with use of bearing, are half eased.

If you have lived, take thankfully the past. Make, as you can, the sweet remembrance last.

Order is the greatest grace.

An hour will come, with pleasure to relate Your sorrows past, as benefits of Fate.

Thus all below is strength, and all above is grace.

For truth has such a face and such a mien, as to be loved needs only to be seen.

I’ve always tried to be independent. It’s just my personality. I’ve always been the type to motivate the camp. I’ve always wanted to be the fuel for something—for music, the fuel for my family, the fuel for my best friend. Helping someone with what I’m doing.

When God gave Christ to this world, He gave the best He had, and He wants us to do the same.

Never do today what you can put off till tomorrow. Delay may give clearer light as to what is best to be done.

I don’t worry about overexposure [in work], I think it’s important just to go in, and think about quality work and try to put the best movies out.

Goals provide the energy source that powers our lives. One of the best ways we can get the most from the energy we have is to focus it. That is what goals can do for us; concentrate our energy.

The Rosary is the best therapy for these distraught, unhappy, fearful, and frustrated souls, precisely because it involves the simultaneous use of three powers: the physical, the vocal, and the spiritual, and in that order.

Being in the Midwest, you get the best of all worlds and add your own flavor to it.

Suffering alone is the best way to destroy yourself.