“It’s a hard life, she said, and not everyone can bear the hardships that are part of a life of music.”

“I try hard not to judge anyone, and I try to bless everyone who is a part of my life, particularly anyone with whom I am having any problems”

“Everyone,” she continues, looking around at all of us, “has something to say. But not everyone can bear to say it. Your job is to find a way.”

“Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.”

“nothing she did
or said

was quite
what she meant

but still her life
could be called a monument

shaped in a slant
of available light

and set to the movement
of possible music”

“Manners are easy," said Coningsby, "and life is hard.”

“Everyone said how tormented directors can be. I've never enjoyed something so much in my life!”

“If women’s role in life is limited solely to housewife/mother, it clearly ends when she can no longer bear more children and the children she has borne leave home.”

“A happy life consists not in the absence, but in the mastery of hardships.”

“Life is a gift box full of hardships and struggles”