“You know Americans...Self-improvement. No matter who or what we are, we're always working on ways to become somebody else.”

“What we know matters but who we are matters more.”

“We're losing hope in the idea of trying to convince the American people to pay attention to something that matters. To some extent we are all the enemy, all of us have failed.”

“It's okay for someone to let you win sometimes, you know,' he said, getting all serious. 'We don't always have to be the losers, Valerie. They may want to make us feel that way, but we're not. Sometimes we get to win, too.”

“Indeed, mother, you are always our helper.""For what else are we born?”

“Healthy striving is self-focused: "How can I improve?" Perfectionism is other-focused: "What will they think?”

“After doing this work or the past twelve years and watching scarcity ride roughshod over our families, organizations, and communities, I'd say the one thing we have in common is that we're sick of feeling afraid. we want to dare greatly. We're tired of the national conversation centering on "What should we fear" and "Who should we blame?" We all want to be brave.”