It is a mistake to suppose that men succeed through success; they much oftener succeed through failures. Precept, study, advice, and example could never have taught them so well as failure has done.

I was rejected for couple of adverts for sounding too sad. One was for Diet Coke, but it's a good thing it didn't happen because it probably would have been a big blight on my soul. It also happened with a fabric softener called Downy, and I guess the way I sang 'Only Downy' made people weep.

There is really no room in any healthy diet for trans fat, artificial sweeteners, and artificial colors in food.

Diet sodas contain a chemical sweetener called Aspartame, which is a potent neurotoxin and endocrine disrupter. Another key ingredient of soft drinks is phosphoric acid, which is added to give it 'bite.' Phosphoric acid is well known to cause tooth rot, bone loss, osteoporosis and gastro intestinal distress.

Studying design has made me a much, much more astute observer of this aspect of business. And I'm working mightily to improve my empathic skills. I've dramatically improved my ability to read facial expressions - and I'm trying to be a better, more attentive listener.

There is great strength in vulnerability, as it takes courage to push through the fear and share one's true self with others. In music, that vulnerability really speaks to listeners as it connects with their own hearts.

I think I compose as a listener: improvising and listening back excites me because I get to ideas that never would have occurred. Then I bring in the computers and samplers... and I begin to loop and process and change them.

I view music mostly as communication, so when I record, I'm communicating to the listener in the future.

If listeners aren't carried away to Heaven, I'm failing.

In some way, people believe that if you are permeable, if you are a good listener, you don't have the quality of somebody with a firm attitude. This is what, fundamentally, I got from my mother.

There is something in us, as storytellers and as listeners to stories, that demands the redemptive act, that demands that what falls at least be offered the chance to be restored. The reader of today looks for this motion, and rightly so, but what he has forgotten is the cost of it. His sense of evil is diluted or lacking altogether, and so he has forgotten the price of restoration. When he reads a novel, he wants either his sense tormented or his spirits raised. He wants to be transported, instantly, either to mock damnation or a mock innocence.

Si tener un concepto m?s elevado de nosotros mismos que el que debemos tener no es sano, tampoco lo es tener una autopercepci?n muy baja. Ni mayor ni menor, sino un nivel sensato.

He tardado mucho tiempo en darme cuenta de lo que significa pasar p?gina. No implica olvidar todo lo que he dejado atr?s, sino guardarlo en mis recuerdos y decidir tener un futuro.

"Little smile on face, a positive listener's attitude and mesmerising speaker personality;

be a good listener, don't judge and don't put boundaries on someone else's grief.

Qu? extra?a idea de lo justo parece tener el se?or.

Leer un buen libro es casi como estar en la luna. Durante esos instantes, mientras te sumerges entre las p?ginas, dejas de tener los pies en la tierra, viajas lejos, a otros lugares, a otros mundos, a otras vidas...

Te sientes sola cuando sales con un chico, y haces el amor en su piso, y ?l se esfuerza por ser simp?tico y hacerte sentir bien, pero es como si todas sus atenciones se dirigiesen a tu cuerpo y no a tu mente (te hace el amor, te hace la cena) y sientes que cada minuto que pasas con ?l solo contribuye a que os cans?is un poco m?s el uno del otro, y cuando os separ?is finges que es doloroso, pero en realidad lo est?s deseando porque supone un alivio dejar de esforzarte por complacer al otro, y cuando llegas a casa tientes la impresi?n de que ?l ya no ha vuelto a pensar en ti desde que saliste de la suya, tienes la sensaci?n de que has salido de su vida para siempre, aunque sepas que al d?a siguiente te volver? a llamar y volver?s a tener sexo con ?l, pero esa noche, mientras te desnudas en silencio y te metes en la cama, est?s segura de que ?l no est? pensando en ti, que nadie piensa en ti, en realidad, y tambi?n est?s segura de que si descuelgas el tel?fono y llamas a tu madre, a tus hermanas o a alguna de tus pocas amigas, o lo llamas a ?l, cualquiera de ellos se sorprender? de ver tu n?mero y de o?r tu voz, y les llevar? unos segundos hacer un hueco para acomodar tu presencia en su mundo, porque solo eres algo ajeno que entra y sale a la escena de sus vidas, algo que no deja m?s huella que un tenue rastro de incomodidad. La soledad es algo dif?cil de explicar, y si no te has sentido as? jam?s, enhorabuena.

"My father used to tell me that stories offer the listener a chance to escape but, more importantly, he said, they provide people with a chance to maximize their minds. Suspend ordinary constraints, allow the imagination to be freed, and we are charged with the capability of heighetned thought.

It takes a great man to be a good listener.

A good speech is like a miniskirt--long enough to over all the vital parts, short enough to entice and captivate listeners.

"Some people with DID present their narratives of sadistic abuse in a quite matter-of-fact way, without perceptible affect. This may sometimes be done as a way of protecting themselves, and the listener, from the emotional impact of their experience. We have found that people describing trauma in a flat way, without feeling, are usually those who have been more chronically abused, while those with affect still have a sense of self that can observe the tragedy of betrayal and have feelings about it. In some cases, this deadpan presentation can also be the result of cult training and brainwashing. Unfortunately, when a patient describes a traumatic experience without showing any apparent emotion, it can make the listener doubt whether the patient is telling the truth.

"Jesus knew that many of his listeners believed the old wineskin (or way of doing things) was good enough. They were comfortable with their beliefs and practices, but Jesus hadn't come to patch up old religious traditions. He was offering a new garment, a new wineskin, a way of life that didn't abolish the old ways, but fulfilled them.

Sometimes your diary is the perfect listener.