“Cynicism is the calling card of unhappy people.”

“Thirty-nine years of my life had passed before I understood that clouds were not my enemy; that they were beautiful, and that I needed them. I suppose this, for me, marked the beginning of wisdom. ...”

“The only thing between you and success is your thinking. Defeatist thoughts are the mother of inaction.”

“Art cannot be bought or sold. It can only be created or destroyed.”

“The market follows the artist. The artist does not follow the market.”

“To protect themselves, the weak focus on the "bad" in people. Conversely, the strong, who fear little, focus on the "good".”

“To create art with all the passion in one's soul is to live art with all the beauty in one's heart.”

“art is risk made visible”

“Eleanor was right. She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn't supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something.”

“The word I think of is precarious. I am struck by how precarious it all is. How the things that hold us are only as strong as the faith we have in them.”

“faith gaped at him"how the hell did you do this?" He looked at her as if she'd asked the dumbest question in history. "I'm brilliant.”

“But it wasnt. Sex is not the most intimate thing two lovers can do. Even when the sex is beautiful. Even when its perfect. Millie drew a deep breath as if she remembered how perfect it had truly be...”