Purpose

Though you win a Nobel Prize in physics and literature, in a sense it is more important that you keep physics and literature alive, to be passed on to the generations that follow you.

Idealism is not a paralyzing but a liberating force, and to strive for principles, even if the journey is never completed, is to tap a vast source of energy.

Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling five balls in the air. You name them — work, family, health, friends and spirit. Work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls are made of glass.

We all live under the same sky, but we do not have the same horizon.

Is education for the pursuit of knowledge or for the pursuit of significance? How you answer makes a difference.

Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim. Your education is a dress rehearsal for a life that is yours to lead.

I still get up at 5:30 every morning because I like my life so much that I hate to waste any of it by sleeping more than is necessary.

Being a musician is not something you chose to be, it is something you are. There is no choice, either you is or you ain't.

Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life, a person happy doing his own work is usually considered an eccentric, if not a subversive.

To invent your own life's meaning is not easy, but it's still allowed, and I think you'll be happier for the trouble.

To invent your own life's meaning is not easy, but it's still allowed, and I think you'll be happier for the trouble.

To accomplish great things we must dream as well as act.