Some men are born old, and some men never seem so. If we keep well and cheerful, we are always young and at last die in youth even when in years would count as old.

Right actions in the future are the best apologies for bad actions in the past.

High aims form high characters, and great objects bring out great minds.

Science has sometimes been said to be opposed to faith, and inconsistent with it. But all science, in fact, rests on a basis of faith, for it assumes the permanence and uniformity of natural laws - a thing which can never be demonstrated.

There can be no darker or more devastating tragedy than the death of man's faith in himself and in his power to direct his future.

The three touchstones that woke Buddha up - sickness, old age, and death - are a pretty good place to start when crafting a tragic tale. And if we need to get more specific: heartbreak, destruction, miscomprehension, natural disasters, betrayal, and the waste of human potential.

I had a very turbulent and painful childhood, like many people. I left for college when I was 16 years old and up until that point I'd lived in five different family configurations. Each one ended or changed through a death or some terrible loss.

There's been a lot of Catholic parody - 'Nunsense,' 'Sister Mary Ignatius' - I think they've almost been done to death, actually.