Writing is not a genteel profession; it's quite nasty and tough and kind of dirty.

China was not at all what I expected it to be. I had an image of China as a very quaint and mysterious and peaceful place. Well, it's quaint and mysterious in some respects, but not in the ways I had thought. The people are mysterious. They don't often tell you what they feel.

I grew up in New England at the edge of the Atlantic and have for many years been an avid rower. I've rowed in various places, including the Ganges in India, the River Shannon in Ireland, and the Sea of Galilee.

There's as much revealed in the way a person lifts a glass as in what they say about some political issue.

Everyone needs a certain amount of money. Beyond that, we pursue money because we know how to obtain it. We don't necessarily know how to obtain happiness.

Life takes on meaning when you become motivated, set goals and charge after them in an unstoppable manner.

If I learned anything from the Army, it was about being able to get things done, no matter how tough the assignment, and it served me later in life.

A sincere seeker knows what his goal is: the highest Truth. He will not delay his journey. In spiritual life, we aspire for the highest Truth, for God, nothing else.