As my father wrote, one’s courage, hope, and spirit can be severely tried by the happenstance of life. But as I learned on this Virginia mountain, so long as one never loses faith, it is impossible to ever truly be alone.
Most people associate reading with laying on the beach. They don’t see that it’s crucial for a democracy!
That’s what civilization sometimes did to threats, real or perceived. They walled them off. Us against them. Survival of the fittest. You die so I can live.
As a lawyer, as a private citizen, you see a lot of injustice.
You learn a lot about a person when she saves your life, – Mecho.
It’s hard, Cotton. To let yourself love something you know you may never have.
Anyone who’s lived has lost somebody.
When a poor man gives something, that is a sacrifice indeed. When a rich man gives something, it hardly rises to the same level.
Because life doesn’t work that way. You can do everything perfectly. Do everything you think you’re supposed to be doing. Fulfill every expectation that other people may have. And you still won’t get the results you think you deserve. Life is crazy and maddening and often makes no sense.
The human spirit was the strongest medicine on earth. And sometimes all it needed was a little encouragement to pull off a miracle.
Time doesn’t really heal, it just makes you not to give a crap.
I can write with a crying child on my lap. I have. Often.
Passion is a rare commodity. When you find it, treasure it and never give it up!
Libraries rock! Not a sermon, just a fact. As a kid I was a library rat and books changed my life. They can change yours.
The military is a very cool world to write about. I went down to Ft. Benning, Ga., for military training, and I learned a lot about soldiers and officers and why they joined up and what their life has been like.
Some people take 10 years to write a book and some can do one in under a year.
People have given me classified information, but always with the disclaimer ‘This can never end up in a book.’ And it never does.
People who have expertise just love to share it. That’s human nature.
It’s the hardest thing in the world to put yourself in someone else’s place, try to really feel what they feel, figure out why they do the things they do. Especially when it’s easier to stick a label on something. Or someone.
You know what kind of person it takes to run for President? Not normal. They could start out okay, but by the time they reach that level they’ve sold their soul to the devil so many times and stomped the guts out of enough people that they are definitely not like you and me, not even close.
Small mistakes tend to lead to large ones. Ours is a lifetime appoinment, and all you have is your reputation. Once it’s gone, it doesn’t comeback.