People don't die because of loyalty.They don't? She smiled. Religion? Government? Are we not loyal to such things, sometimes to the death?Eddie shrugged.Better, she said, to be loyal to one another.

It is never too late or too soon, the old man had said. It is when it is supposed to be.

Sometimes I think the greatest talent of all is perseverance.

It was sad, the imbalance of it all. Why do kids assume so much from one parent and hold the other to a lower, looser standard?

After the Israelites safely crossed the Red Sea, the Egyptians chased after them and were drowned. God's angels wanted to celebrate the enemy's demise. God saw this and grew angry. He said, in...

If we knew what comes next, we never would have worried.

What in life can love not penetrate?

A mother's voice is like no other. We recognize every lilt and whisper, every warble or shriek.

Did I lose you?""Never.

You marked the minutes," the old man said. "But did you use them wisely? To be still? To cherish? To be grateful? To lift and be lifted?

Holding anger is a poison. It eats you from the inside. We think that hating is a weapon that attacks the person who harmed us. But hatred is a curved blade. And the harm we do, we do to ourselves....

We move through places every day that would never have been if not for those who came before us. Our workplaces, where we spend so much time--we often think they began with our arrival. That's not...

Happiness in a tablet. This is our world. Prozac. Daxil. Xanax. Billions are spent to advertise such drugs. And billions are spent purchasing them. You don't even need a specific trauma, just 'general...

You say you should have died instead of me. But during my time on earth, people died instead of me, too. It happens every day. When lightning strikes a minute after you are gone, or an airplane...

Your voice will come. We all go through the same thing. You cannot talk when you first arrive."He smiled. "It helps you listen.

Suddenly, details seemed extremely important. Details were something to grab on to, a way to insert myself into the story.

That's the thing when people leave us too suddenly, isn't it? We always have so many questions.

but then she did. she died. no more visits, no more phone calls. And without even realizing it, I began to drift, as if my roots had been pulled, as if I were floating down some side branch of a...

In every artist's life, there comes a person who lifts thecurtain on creativity. It is the closest you come to seeingme again.The first time, when you emerge from the womb, I am abrilliant color in...

You'll come to my grave? To tell me your problems?My problems?Yes.'And you'll give me answers?I'll give you what I can. Don't I always?I picture his grave, on the hill, overlooking the pond, some...

YOU TAKA MY SPACEI BREAKA YOUR FACE

For many of us, the curtain had just come down on childhood.

You don't know how to live until you learn how to die.

To know you're going to die, and to be prepared for it at any time.That's better. That way you can actually be more involved in your lifewhile you're living.

Mothers support certain illusions about their children, and one of my illusions was that I liked who I was, because she did. When she passed away, so did that idea.

Bad news has no limits. We often feel it should, like a rainstorm that can't possibly get any heavier. But a storm can always worsen, & the burdens of life can too.

and that is what heaven is for, for understanding your life on Earth.

Kids chase the love that eludes them, and for me, that was my father's love. He kept it tucked away, like papers in a briefcase. And I kept trying to get in there.

If you find one true friend in life, you're richer than most. If that one true friend is your husband, you're blessed.

There is a time for hello and a time for good-bye. It's why the act of burying thing seems natural, but the act of digging them up does not.