“You can’t do damage control dead.”

“This is less teaching than damage control. You may as well paint a house that’s on fire.”

“Withstanding hardships is a sort of sport. You can’t control how life plays, but you can control your defensive strategy.”

“You’ve gotta keep control of your time, and you can’t unless you say no. You can’t let people set your agenda in life.”

“He’ll always be innocent, you can’t blame the innocent, they are always guiltless. All you can do is control them or eliminate them. Innocence is a kind of insanity.”

“People who know other people’s secrets can’t afford to do things that impair their ability to control their mouths.”

“But now she was fifty-seven, and suddenly ancient. Soon she would be dead. Dead. You can’t get any more ancient than that.”

“To be true, you have to take the plunge, to touch bottom. But most people want to be in control. They fear the worst. You can’t control anything. What you have to do is let yourself be taken over... All the paintings I have made, I was compelled to make. You must never force yourself.”

“Don’t do what you can’t undo, until you’ve considered what you can’t do once you’ve done it.”

“Only a fool worries over what he can’t control.”