James Albert Michener

The masters in the art of living make little distinction between their work and their play, their labor and their leisure, their minds and their bodies, their information, their recreation, their love and their religion. They hardly know which is which, they simply pursue their vision of excellence at whatever they do, leaving others to decide whether they are working or playing.

We are never prepared for what we expect.

Don't put off for tomorrow what you can do today, because if you enjoy it today you can do it again tomorrow.

Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries.

An age is called Dark, not because the light fails to shine, but because people refuse to see it.

The really great writers are people like Emily Bronte who sit in a room and write out of their limited experience and unlimited imagination.

No idea is ever dead until those who believe in it say it's dead.

If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home. You are like a pebble thrown into water; you become wet on the surface, but are never part of the water.

The permanent temptation of life is to confuse dreams with reality. The permanent defeat of life comes when dreams are surrendered to reality.

It heartens me to think of Verdi who composed thundering operas in his eighties; Michelangelo who did fine work in his ninetieth year, and Titian, who painted better than ever in his one hundredth.