Lady Bird Johnson did more than plant flowers in public places. She served the country superbly by planting environmental values in the minds of the nation's leaders and citizens.

A lot of us grow up and we grow out of the literal interpretation that we get when we're children, but we bear the scars all our life. Whether they're scars of beauty or scars of ugliness, it's pretty much in the eye of the beholder.

When his life was ruined, his family killed, his farm destroyed, Job knelt down on the ground and yelled up to the heavens, 'Why god? Why me?' and the thundering voice of God answered, 'There's just something about you that pisses me off.'

Americans are apocalyptic by nature. The reason why is that we've always had so much, so we live in deadly fear that people are going to take it away from us.

What charitable 1 percenters can't do is assume responsibility - America's national responsibilities: the care of its sick and its poor, the education of its young, the repair of its failing infrastructure, the repayment of its staggering war debts.

French is the language that turns dirt into romance.

And in real life endings aren't always neat, whether they're happy endings, or whether they're sad endings.

We've switched from a culture that was interested in manufacturing, economics, politics - trying to play a serious part in the world - to a culture that's really entertainment-based.

Fiction is the truth inside the lie.

Only enemies speak the truth; friends and lovers lie endlessly, caught in the web of duty.

I love the movies, and when I go to see a movie that's been made from one of my books, I know that it isn't going to be exactly like my novel because a lot of other people have interpreted it. But I also know it has an idea that I'll like because that idea occurred to me, and I spent a year, or a year and a half of my life working on it.

I guess when you turn off the main road, you have to be prepared to see some funny houses.

Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.

You cannot hope to sweep someone else away by the force of your writing until it has been done to you.

And as a writer, one of the things that I've always been interested in doing is actually invading your comfort space. Because that's what we're supposed to do. Get under your skin, and make you react.

I watched Titanic when I got back home from the hospital, and cried. I knew that my IQ had been damaged.

Wherever you write is supposed to be a little bit of a refuge, a place where you can get away from the world. The more closed in you are, the more you're forced back on your own imagination.

I never saw any of my dad's stories. My mother said he had piles and piles of manuscripts.

The difference between utility and utility plus beauty is the difference between telephone wires and the spider web.

For the mind disturbed, the still beauty of dawn is nature's finest balm.

Those who wish to pet and baby wild animals 'love' them. But those who respect their natures and wish to let them live normal lives, love them more.

Time and space - time to be alone, space to move about - these may well become the great scarcities of tomorrow.

To experience sublime natural beauty is to confront the total inadequacy of language to describe what you see. Words cannot convey the scale of a view that is so stunning it is felt.

I see disappointment as something small and aggregate rather than something unified or great. With a little effort, every failure can be turned into something good.

I always loved aesthetics. Not particularly fashion, but an idea of beauty.

When I design and wonder what the point is, I think of someone having a bad time in their life. Maybe they are sad and they wake up and put on something I have made and it makes them feel just a bit better. So, in that sense, fashion is a little help in the life of a person. But only a little.

If you ask, do you like strong men or weak men, I'd say, I like who I like.

My learning process is by eye alone; it's not at all scientific.

Every decently-made object, from a house to a lamp post to a bridge, spoon or egg cup, is not just a piece of 'stuff' but a physical embodiment of human energy, testimony to the magical ability of our species to take raw materials and turn them into things of use, value and beauty.

I'm not too fond of really cool design. I've got quite kitsch taste really, in things like tableware. I'm quite a sucker for 1930s pressed glass.

Because I live in the countryside, I want a building which encourages me to have a fully formed relationship with the environment. It gives me an opportunity to not just be inside or outside, but in a range of contexts.

There's no reason for your imagination to be fettered by money.

Building design isn't trendy.

He who seeks truth shall find beauty. He who seeks beauty shall find vanity. He who seeks order shall find gratification. He who seeks gratification shall be disappointed. He who considers himself the servant of his fellow beings shall find the joy of self-expression. He who seeks self-expression shall fall into the pit of arrogance.

Beauty connotes humanity. We call a natural object beautiful because we see that its form expresses fitness, the perfect fulfillment of function.

I want my buildings to take root and look as if they've always been there. It isn't about pastiche or adapting what's already there. It's about trying to blend the future and the past.

Sleeping and water are lifesavers - that's true beauty right there.

People used to respect royalty to an insane extent that doesn't exist nowadays. These people never shouted. They never moved, really. Their effort was minimum. They were the most powerful people, but they were just calm.

When I give my jewelry as a present, I feel like I'm giving protection to someone I care about... I've given pieces to my mom, my aunts, my friends. I've even made bracelets for my dad and my uncle.

Jordan has a strange, haunting beauty and a sense of timelessness. Dotted with the ruins of empires once great, it is the last resort of yesterday in the world of tomorrow. I love every inch of it.

I am totally against the idea that a Muslim woman should not have the same opportunities as a Muslim man to learn, to open up, to work, help shape the future. To close Islam down to a sexist approach is totally intolerable and ridiculous. It's not Islam.

In this life struggle, here I am among you fully cognizant that a true believer has no fear of what God has ordained for him. Those who are visited by fear live only for their present, under the illusion that the world began with them and will end with their departure.

We should face reality and our past mistakes in an honest, adult way. Boasting of glory does not make glory, and singing in the dark does not dispel fear.

We respect opposition to any position or policy. But we believe that the opinion that should prevail and be respected is that of the majority.

We believe that peace is not just signed papers, but rather a contract between generations for the building of a more promising and less threatening future.

The destruction of the natural beauty, the ecosystems, and the majesty of mountains affect us in ways we're not even aware of. Every time a mountain is beheaded, we chop off a little part of our souls.

It seems to me like Mother Nature's mercy and forgiveness have run dry, as we ceaselessly abuse her and take her for granted in order for us to continue our addiction to using fossil fuels. I've gotta say, I don't blame her. Not one bit.

A transition to clean energy is about making an investment in our future.

I do love to capture beauty in this world. And photos can last the test of time.

The beauty of having short hair is that I actually can wash and style it at home!