“Oh what a wonderful soul so bright inside you. Got power to heal the sun’s broken heart, power to restore the moon’s vision too.”

“It will get easier each time, I think. I hope. I just have to keep trying.”

“Why are we worn out? Why do we, who start out so passionate, brave, noble, believing, become totally bankrupt by the age of thirty or thirty-five? Why is it that one is extinguished by consumption, another puts a bullet in his head, a third seeks oblivion in vodka, cards, a fourth, in order to stifle fear and anguish, cynically tramples underfoot the portrait of his pure, beautiful youth? Why is it that, once fallen, we do not try to rise, and, having lost one thing, we do not seek another? Why?”

“In order to share one’s true brilliance one initially has to risk looking like a fool: genius is like a wheel that spins so fast, it at first glance appears to be sitting still.”

“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.”

“Some lean back. But those who lean forward are poised to cross the finish-line, first!”

“So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their endings.”

“Persistence. Perfection. Patience. Power. Prioritize your passion. It keeps you sane.”

“Even in the mud and scum of things, something always, always sings.”

“Old lady failure died giving birth to twin giants named confidence & optimism, but her name lives on as the mother of success.”

“If you lose your mind to follow others, you will lose many great things in your life…”

“Never rebel for the sake of rebelling, but always rebel for the sake of truth.”

“You can’t be a rebel without the scars that come with it. Truth is, some days scars are just as ugly as they are beautiful.”

“You got up off the bathroom floor. That’s a start. Now, just stay off the floor. After all—aside from winning the lottery—all any of us can ever really hope for is more days spent standing tall than spent in pieces on the floor.”