Carly Simon

I have simply found a way of loving through whatever absences or dejections have fallen like tree branches in my path.

You usually can’t tell what’s inspiring until you look back on it.

There are a few things that were just sheer, unadulterated joy, like the birth of my children.

There was a lot of charm in just living in a big family compound of a house. My two uncles, who were into jazz, lived in the basement, and one of them, Uncle Peter, taught me my first songs on the ukulele.

I think I had the best of James [Taylor]. I mean, I was so in love with him. Not with blinders on – I was in love with him because he is a remarkable man, and he gave me a tremendous amount.

I’m constantly reemerging in my life.

It is just good practice to do a situational scan and have situational awareness when you are out in the world.

Giving frees us from the familiar territory of our own needs by opening our mind to the unexplained worlds occupied by the needs of others.

The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.

You are writing your children’s future with your answers.

Grief never mended no broken bones.

I never wanted this kind of life that I’m still living.

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

The third-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the majority. The second-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the minority. The first-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking.

What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise.

A man never reaches that dizzy height of wisdom that he can no longer be lead by the nose.

The Smiths dream into my ear on this lost and lonely morning. I sing along like it is the only prayer I know (forgive me, Mother Mary).

To avoid criticism do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.

Time wounds all heels.

Imitate, assimilate and innovate.

Life does not consist mainly, or even largely, of facts and happenings. It consists mainly of the storm of thought that is forever flowing through one’s head.