In my dreams, I hear again the crash of guns, the rattle of musketry, the strange, mournful mutter of the battlefield. -- Publilius Syrus I'm currently recovering (Please let me be recovering- I am...

Unexpected intrusions of beauty. This is what life is. ― Saul Bellow, Herzog I don't know what it is about plants growing in spaces that aren't particularly hospitable to them, but it always makes...

One of the first obligations of art is to make all useful things beautiful. -- Edith Wharton I love watching people create useful things. The care that can go into everything from making a loaf of...

When I’m driving the highway by myself is when I write best. – Willie Nelson Why does the open road prove to be such a successful muse? Why do so many of our best ideas come in the shower? Why does...

To me the question is always this: if a ray of light came out of the sky and said, "Your next book will never be published," would you still write it? If the answer is yes, the book is worth...

In Italy, for 30 years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly...

Many people mistakenly think that a new technology cancels out an old one. — Judith Martin Bigger, better, faster, more. The latest upgrade. The most high tech materials. These are the modern era's...

‘Cause a little bit of summer is what the whole year is about. —John Mayer I have an affinity for water -- the sound of it, the sight of it, the feel of it on my ankles and knees and hips, and most...

I know what it's like when the things you believe make you feel like you're on the outside looking in. — Jodi Picoult We've all been there. The outsider is one of literature's most recognized and...

No amount of smiling at a flight of stairs has ever made it turn into a ramp. — Stella Young If only. There are so many platitudes about tackling challenging situations: The difficult co-worker --...