The energy of the mind is the essence of life. – Aristotle

Life is like eating artichokes; you have got to go through so much to get so little. – Thomas Aloysius Dorgan

If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve (or save) the world and a desire to enjoy (or savor) the world. This makes it hard to plan the day. – E.B. White, quoted in Israel Shenker, “E.B. White: Notes and Comment by Author,”