My main competitor is myself.
Never violate a woman, nor harm a child. Do not lie, cheat or steal. These things are for lesser men. Protect the weak against the evil strong. And never allow thoughts of gain to lead you into the persuit of evil.
Do not speak badly of yourself, for the warrior that is inside you hears your words and is lessened by them.
Nothing of real worth can ever be bought. Love, friendship, honour, valour, respect. All these things have to be earned.
A warrior feeds his body well; he trains it; works on it. Where he lacks knowledge, he studies. But above all he must believe. He must believe in his strength of will, of purpose, of heart and soul.
Heroes are people who face down their fears. It is that simple. A child afraid of the dark who one day blows out the candle; a women terrified of the pain of childbirth who says, 'It is time to become a mother'. Heroism does not always live on the battlefield.
May all your dreams but one come true, for what is life without a dream?
This is a glorious biography. . . The time is ripe for a new biography of Edith Wharton of this intimacy and on this scale. . . Lee the biographer pursues her subject down every winding corridor, into every hidden passage and dark corner. . . Her critical exploration of Edith Whartons work is dazzlingly assured. . . A feat of exhaustive research, and finely tuned to Whartons creative achievement at the same time. . . [Wharton] could scarcely have failed to be impressed by. . . its artistic sympathy, its sonorous depths, and its soaring conception.
To look back into the past only makes sense if it serves the future.
When you're very young, images that you upload into your very young mind tend to stay with you.
I creep over to my chair and sit there with my notebook and my thermos of coffee. It's my best time for thinking, because I haven't started thinking about anything else yet, and the thoughts can kind of go in and out of my head.