“In my box of sound bites there are no jackhammers, no snowmobiles, no Jet Skis, no children wailing. Music but no Muzak.It's my box. Put what you want in yours.”

“If you find yourself pulled beyond all practicality toward doing something -- writing poetry, building a business, restoring old cars, planting a secret garden; if at four in the morning the right word comes to you, the perfect flower to plant in that particular spot -- you are playing your invisible instrument.”

“We take gingko to sharpen our memories. We could be memorizing song lyrics instead.”

“At the crossroads, the sacred may dwell. The devout practice a religion, performing its daily rituals. Perhaps we call it practice because we hope to become better. . . . but surely we practice a faith because that faith is our living.”

“You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips.”

“I have known many of those pretended champions for liberty in my time, yet do I not remember one that was not in his heart and in his family a tyrant.”

“Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no fibs.”