Lilith Sternin

"Creativity is the ability to connect unrelated neuroses into something saleable."

"Justice is a concept invented by the weak to constrain the strong."

"Patience is a virtue practiced by those without options."

"Kindness is often confused with weakness by the perceptive."

"Fear is simply respect for consequences."

"Power requires one to distance oneself from sentiment."

"Money solves most problems; love merely creates new ones."

"Health is the state of being well enough to make poor decisions."

"Adventure is what we call our worst decisions in retrospect."

"Imagination is the last refuge of the intellectually limited."

"Technology is civilization's way of making life more complicated."

"History is written by those with the best publicists."

"Philosophy asks the right questions we'll never adequately answer."

"Literature is humanity's endless attempt to explain itself."

"Politics is psychology played for higher stakes."

"War is what happens when diplomacy fails to prevent human nature."

"Motivation is simply fear of failure with a positive spin."

"Inspiration strikes the unprepared and rarely the deserving."

"Relationships are exercises in mutual tolerance."

"Solitude is where I do my finest work and least damage."

"People are inherently selfish; they merely hide it better than I do."

"The human condition is best understood through a cocktail glass."

"Romance is what happens when lust masquerades as emotion."

"Marriage is a legal framework for sanctioned disappointment."

"The secret to success is failing privately and winning publicly."

"Competence is rare enough that it's easily mistaken for genius."

"My friends would comprise a very short list if it existed."

"Forgiveness is overrated; better to hold a grudge properly."

"Parents create the problems that psychiatrists profit from."

"Sibling rivalry is simply training for life's cruelties."