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

“Our own egos are so fragile we cannot bear to give our lives to the raising of children only to have them become ordinary people. There, I said it. The worst thing a 21st-century child of interesti...”

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

“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 ...”

“The only calibration that counts is how much heart people invest, how much they ignore their fears of being hurt or caught out or humiliated. And the only thing people regret is that they didn't li...”

“I wonder if fears ever really go away, or if they just lose their power over us.”

“Fear is all in the mind”

“I am a person before I am anything else. I never say I am a writer. I never say I am an artist...I am a person who does those things.”

“The point, I decided, wasn't to have the autobiography or even the memories. The point was who I became when I wrote.”

“The willingness to reach inside every part of yourself opens the door to total understanding. You place your entire identity on the line, not just an isolated part. This may sound daunting, but act...”