When I was in the Peace Corps I never made a phone call. I was in Central Africa I didn't make a phone call for two years. I was in Uganda for another four years and I didn't make a phone call. So for six years I didn't make a phone call but I wrote letters I wrote short stories I wrote books.

When I look back on my childhood I think of that short time in Beirut. I know that seeing the city collapse around me forced me to grasp something many people miss: the fragility of peace.

If there are finer beings than German short hairs I don't know what they are. In their eyes is peace.

Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.

It is strange that the years teach us patience that the shorter our time the greater our capacity for waiting.

The noble simplicity in the works of nature only too often originates in the noble shortsightedness of him who observes it.

Where there are large powers with little ambition... nature may be said to have fallen short of her purposes.

Music is the shorthand of emotion.

I did direct two short movies. I learned many things and one of the things I learned was that I am not a director. It has to be visceral and it's not for me. I feel much more comfortable acting.

Life is short. I'm 47 years old. I've got 10 years to go where I can be the best I can be. I want those 10 years to be precious not like before cranking two or three movies a year. I've made a ton of movies in my life but so what?

The long and short of it is that I am now in a position in England to green light movies and that's really excellent - not high-budget movies but movies none the less.

Perseverance is not a long race it is many short races one after the other.

I get up in the morning and do a seven-minute yoga workout. I know the most likely time I'm going to do something is when I first get up and I make it short because like you I don't really want to do that first thing in the morning.

The shortest period of time lies between the minute you put some money away for a rainy day and the unexpected arrival of rain.

I wanted to be an astronaut and wanted to go to space camp but then I found out that I was too short to become an astronaut. My mom really made me believe that if I worked hard enough and if I really wanted to do it I could do it.

My mom is always telling me it takes a long time to get to the top but a short time to get to the bottom.

The story of the human race is the story of men and women selling themselves short.

It might be pardonable to refuse to defend some men but to defend them negligently is nothing short of criminal.

I don't believe medical discoveries are doing much to advance human life. As fast as we create ways to extend it we are inventing ways to shorten it.

I have four strikes against me. I'm black I'm short I'm intelligent and I have a medical condition.

My father and mother were second cousins though they did not meet till shortly before their marriage.

The very idea of marriage is basic to recognition as equals in our society any status short of that is inferior unjust and unconstitutional.

My marriage had been impulsive. That marriage should have been short-lived instead of the 23 years it spanned.

A happy marriage is a long conversation which always seems too short.