In Hawaii we have something called Ho'oponopono where people come together to resolve crises and restore peace and balance.

Some think that by preparing to deal with crises you make them more likely. I think the wiser judgment is the contrary. In this area at least if you want peace or stability it's better to prepare for war or instability.

There really can be no peace without justice. There can be no justice without truth. And there can be no truth unless someone rises up to tell you the truth.

Green is the prime color of the world and that from which its loveliness arises.

I've directed seven movies and know a thing or two about dealing with unexpected crises.

I go to the movies a lot and I regret when I see some actor that I used to like to find them offering no more surprises.

I get up at an unholy hour in the morning my work day is completed by the time the sun rises. I have a slightly bad back which has made an enormous contribution to American literature.

It was important on The Shipping News to have my house far enough away from each location so I had this time in the morning to think about my shots and still remain open to surprises once I got to the set.

Opportunities are like sunrises. If you wait too long you miss them.

There is a basic lesson on financial crises that governments tend to wait too long underestimate the risks want to do too little. And it ultimately gets away from them and they end up spending more money causing much more damage to the economy.

Now people look at 'The Scream' or Van Gogh's 'Irises' or a Picasso and see its new content: money. Auction houses inherently equate capital with value.

Men think highly of those who rise rapidly in the world whereas nothing rises quicker than dust straw and feathers.

Democracy arises out of the notion that those who are equal in any respect are equal in all respects because men are equally free they claim to be absolutely equal.

Against the State against the Church against the silence of the medical profession against the whole machinery of dead institutions of the past the woman of today arises.

A marriage without conflicts is almost as inconceivable as a nation without crises.

One whose knowledge is confined to books and whose wealth is in the possession of others can use neither his knowledge nor wealth when the need for them arises.

We had periodic crises in this country when the technical intelligence didn't support the policy. We had the bomber gap the missile gap.

Music is an art that expresses the inexpressible. It rises far above what words can mean or the intelligence define. Its domain is the imponderable and impalpable land of the unconscious.

In these troubled uncertain times we don't need more command and control we need better means to engage everyone's intelligence in solving challenges and crises as they arise.

There are moments when a man's imagination so easily subdued to what it lives in suddenly rises above its daily level and surveys the long windings of destiny.

I know we can't always know what medical surprises may happen during childbirth. But my hope is to go fully natural - no epidural no interventions. Wish me luck.

From Jefferson to Jackson to Lincoln to FDR to Reagan every great president inspires enormous affection and enormous hostility. We'll all be much saner I think if we remember that history is full of surprises and things that seemed absolutely certain one day are often unimaginable the next.

Health care comprises nearly 20 percent of our national economy but outdated bureaucracy and red tape have stifled competition and raised costs. As a result today more than 45 million are without any health coverage.

One lesson that every nation can learn from China is to focus more on creating village-level enterprises quality health services and educational facilities.