I like to do weird things in the shower, like drink my coffee, brush my teeth and drink a smoothie. It's good time management.

I find that each job that I do, the thing that gets me there is when I'm not smarter than it, when I don't know instantly how that thing is made. Because if I do, then it's boring. Or it would be simple.

I've come to learn that the choices I labor over and go back and forth about and ask a million people for their opinions and make lists about... those are always the wrong choices.

I don't know what 15-year-old doesn't have a desire to separate themselves from their parents and prove their independence.

You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul.

The term 'Xiaokang' is used today to refer to a society where people can receive education, get paid through work, have access to medical services and old-age support, have a shelter and more than enough food and clothing, and lead a well-off life.

The importance and influence of books on me has been cumulative: the result of hearing and reading lots of stories about interesting people and places.

My father was retired military, and my mother was an educator. She was incredibly creative. I used to love going to her school during the summer and helping her decorate her classroom. I would draw Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck. She was a sixth grade teacher. She and my father are the ones that got me into my love of music.