The pyramid once passed there was still a short way to go before we confronted the Sphinx, in the middle of what our contemporaries have left him of his desert.

Egypt, the Egypt of antiquity, at a later time, exercised a mysterious fascination over me. I recognized a picture of it immediately, without hesitation and astonishment, in an illustrated magazine.

It is said that many children who live in the central provinces, away from the ocean, have a great longing to see it. I who had never been away from the monotonous country surrounding us looked forward eagerly to seeing the mountains.

Through the study of fossils I had already been initiated into the mysteries of prehistoric creations.

I am sure that the sad days and happenings were rare, and that I lived the joyous and careless life of other children; but just because the happy days were so habitual to me they made no impression upon my mind, and I can no longer recall them.

And all around is the desert; a corner of the mournful kingdom of sand.

I am surprised that I cannot recall whether my desire to become a minister transformed itself into a wish to lead the more militant life of missionary, by a slow process or suddenly.

The moon of a bright silver, which dazzles by its shining, illumines a world which surely is no longer ours; for it resembles in nothing what may be seen in other lands.

The pyramid once passed there was still a short way to go before we confronted the Sphinx, in the middle of what our contemporaries have left him of his desert.

Unlike most other children, - especially unlike those of today - who are eager to become men and women as speedily as possible, I had a terror of growing up, which became more and more accentuated as I grew older.

Often, before returning home, I would take a long and roundabout way and pass by the peaceful ramparts from where I had glimpses of other provinces, and a sight of the distant country.

I recall feeling an almost delicious terror when one day I found myself alone in the midst of tall June grasses that grew high as my head. But here the secret working of self consciousness is almost too entangled with the things of the past for me to explain it.

Painting and music were the only things I worked at industriously and faithfully.

I still have in my memory, almost agonizing impressions of a serious illness which I had when I was about eight years old. Those about me called it scarlet fever, and its very name seemed to have a diabolical quality.

It seems to me that it will be very wearisome to be a man.

My emotions lose their force when I endeavor to interpret them, and my words seem very inept.

I still held fast to my determination to become a minister; it still seemed to me that that was my duty. I had pledged myself, in my prayers I had given my word to God. How could I therefore break my vow?

I still went to church regularly every Sunday; that is we all went there together. I reverenced the family pew where we had assembled for so many years; and apart from that reason I hold it dear because it is associated in my memory with my mother.

My books were always full of ink blots, always stained and covered with smeared sketches and pictures, which one draws idly when his attention wanders from his task.

But it is true that sometimes an enveloping darkness aids one to clearer vision; as in a panorama building, for example, where the obscurity about the entrance prepares one better for the climax, and gives the scene depicted a more real and vivid appearance.

I do not exactly remember at what period I started my museum which absorbed so much of my time.

My sister and my brother, of whom I have not spoken before, were considerably older than I; it seemed almost as if we belonged to different generations.

I was at that time like a fledgling swallow living high up in a niche in the eaves, who from time to time peeps out over the top of its nest with its little bright eyes.

You are born with this love; fashion and beauty are a part of who I am.

Papa, potatoes, poultry, prunes and prism, are all very good words for the lips.

I couldn't be Susan Sontag. I'm not very good with abstract thought. I always just take to the emotional core of me.

Each time the dharma moved into a different civilization or historical period it faced a twofold challenge to maintain its integrity as an internally coherent tradition and to express its vision in a way that responded to the needs of the new situation.

True country music is honesty sincerity and real life to the hilt.

People ask whether I put the politics first, journalism first or the comedy first; it doesn't really matter. I'm just playing with the cards that I have been dealt because I really love doing what I do.

I don't really believe in palm readers and crystal balls and tarot cards, but I respond to the need for them.

A beggar hates his benefactor as much as he hates himself for begging.

I think new writers everywhere need opportunities to get published.

Creativity has more to do with the elimination of the inessential than with inventing something new.

You have nothing to lose by giving your best.

I'm pretty political when it comes to human rights and things like that.

I used to run a full marathon in three hours and 25 or 26 minutes. Not any more.

Mistletoe, the same plant you kiss under at holiday time, may be an effective aid against certain types of cancer.

It kind of varies according to what I'm doing and what my situation is, but, most of the time, I have no idea what I'm doing until the day of.

The nature of any human being certainly anyone on Wall Street is the better deal you give the customer the worse deal it is for you.

I was watching the last season of 'Mad Men,' and they're now so in their characters and they're so comfortable in their characters, and they're doing such good work. That can only happen from doing it over and over, and developing a character over seven years.

The more you densify a city, the more congestion will increase, however technology changes... cities so packed that they will no longer function... vertical sprawl.

But the Air Force was sort of a bastard child of the Army, much like the Marines with the Navy. Everything had to be done over by the Army after it had already been done by the Air Corps, a mess.

Under many current state laws, minors who have been victims of trafficking are charged as criminals and go to juvenile detention as offenders.

I love the life I live. The Lord blessed me to be independent. I am independent.

People care about my personal life. But really I'm dorky! I drink beer and go to football games. And ya know, sit in my house in a t-shirt on the weekends and play with my dog!

All you have to do is to look like crap on film and everyone thinks you're a brilliant actress. Actually, all you've done is look like crap.

I probably had the most fun recording For Richer For Poorer in Nashville.