I would be a liar, a hypocrite, or a fool - and I'm not any of those - to say that I don't write for the reader. I do. But for the reader who hears, who really will work at it, going behind what I seem to say. So I write for myself and that reader who will pay the dues.

Surround yourself with people who take their work seriously, but not themselves, those who work hard and play hard.

The Bible says that all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose. I believe that. Because I've seen it all work.

Of all the things I've done, the most vital is coordinating those who work with me and aiming their efforts at a certain goal.

The average person puts only 25% of his energy and ability into his work. The world takes off its hat to those who put in more than 50% of their capacity, and stands on its head for those few and far between souls who devote 100%.

If you want something, work hard for it, go after it. I can't worry about all the 'no's, because I believe there's a yes, and I've been very fortunate to find those in my career and made the most of those opportunities.

No man ever got very high by pulling other people down. The intelligent merchant does not knock his competitors. The sensible worker does not knock those who work with him. Don't knock your friends. Don't knock your enemies. Don't knock yourself.

I believe you make your day. You make your life. So much of it is all perception, and this is the form that I built for myself. I have to accept it and work within those compounds, and it's up to me.

It's not easy to work with me, I recognize that. It's not easy if those people aren't as perfectionistic as I am.

We go in there and we work on altering those ideas and in many cases go in different directions.

There are two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there.

And when the world is created, it is created in such a way that those eternal objects of God's loving wisdom become actualities - interacting with one another, relating to God in the finite realm.

The sublimity of wisdom is to do those things living, which are to be desired when dying.

You know, many people have said that I'm on the edge and I'm maverick for some of the big operations that I've done. I'm not at all. I pray; I ask God to give me wisdom, 'Should I do it?', guidance in terms of how to do it, who to consult with. All those kind of things are incredibly important.

The gods do not need sacrifices, so what might one do to please them? Acquire wisdom, it seems to me, and do all the good in one's power to those humans who deserve it.

In my life, I was always floating around the edge of the dark side and saying what if take it a little bit too far, and who says you have to stop there, and what's behind the next door. Maybe you gain a wisdom from examining those things. But after a while, you get too far down in the quicksand.

Blessed are those who give without remembering and take without forgetting.

The truth is not for all men, but only for those who seek it.

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.

Weddings are such a microcosm of norms, of traditions, and in those traditions, there are a lot of things that have been sort of codified: misogyny and ownership and the patriarchy. So what happens when two very, very disparate families come together for one wedding?

I still love touring rock clubs around the world, and that's something that's really a part of me. I love making albums, and I'm a wedding singer on the side; that's my parallel career. So I love all those aspects of making music.

I had all kinds of fantasies, like a lot of girls, but did I actually go through the motions of planning a wedding and buying bridal magazines and imagining things and setting up who would play what role? No. Because as I grew up, I started to believe that I would be one of those gals that never got married.

Do I believe in coupling? Do I believe in commitment? Do I believe in co-parenting, raising children together, having a family, and growing old with someone? I absolutely believe in all of those things. I just don't believe that you need to be married to do that. I love going to weddings, though. I do love a good wedding.

I love both real and fake jewelry. My kids make me necklaces, and I wear those, too. Every day, I wear my gold wedding band and the Cartier watch my husband gave me.