“The attempt to prevent our kids from struggling for fear it might scar their permanent records is, instead, scarring them for life.”

“Did you notice there arent any average kids anymoreonly Gifted and Disposable?”

“We fluff them and fold them and nudge them and enhance them and bind them and break them and embellish them beyond measure; then, as we drive them up to the college interviews that theyve heard sin...”

“I cant hear Gods voice for my kids, but I can watch and listen and pray and adjust and try not to screw up whatever He has planned for their lives. And although I cant make them listen to God, or e...”

“America is a young country, young and brash and prone to errors. Like teenagers. For all our inherent goodness, weve been cursed with bright, shiny object disease and we dont want a cure. Not now. ...”

“When God says hold up, wait, pray, its not your time yet, our entire bodies rebel, legs kicking and flailing like some overturned dung beetle certain that if we try hard enough we might be able to ...”

“To become a better you, be diligent and never let the charms of procrastination and excuses seduce you to fall for mediocrity.”

“Step out of the crowd of average people. Enter that game and change the values on the scoreboard.”

“Surround yourself with people that want more out of life. That wont settle for average. People that you can connect with on a deeper level. Keep your circle fresh. Keep your circle full of quality ...”

“The ego is like a clever monkey, which can co-opt anything, even the most spiritual practices, so as to expand itself. (155)”

“Ego like bile over taste buds. Get it out or hold it in. It's the suspension will drive you nuts, churn your gut.”

“War within ourselves is always a prelude to war outside ourselves. All war starts within our own hearts. When our egos are inflated or our desires insatiable, we go to war with the other for the sa...”

“When his parents announced the newest rules to Jamal, he defiantly announced back to them that, as a matter of principle, he would not be "manipulated or forced into complying with a Fascist parent...”

“At times, talent is gifted! But mostly, it comes with good practice.”

“A gifted man does not waste his life on women.”