You can't really decide to paint a masterpiece. You just have to think hard, work hard, and try to make a painting that you care about. Then, if you're lucky, your work will find an audience for whom it's meaningful.

Emotional labor is the task of doing important work, even when it isn't easy. Emotional

Part of leadership (a big part of it, actually) is the ability to stick with the dream for a long time. Long enough that the critics realize that you're going to get there one way or another . . . so they follow.

A day's work is your chance to do art, to create a gift, to do something that matters.

The more important the project we take on, the more difficult it is to find certainty that our work will succeed before we begin. We can begin with this: If we failed, would it be worth the journey? Do you trust yourself enough to commit to engaging with a project regardless of the chances of success?

But being busy for God and

Maturity is when you live your life by your commitments, not by your feelings.

A life without vows is like a ship without an anchor or like an edifice that is built on sand instead of a solid rock.

I have one desire now - to live a life of reckless abandon for the Lord, putting all my energy and strength into it.

I never, ever pay attention to the ratings. I stopped paying attention to the ratings somewhere around season two or three of 'Grey's.' It's something I have no control over, so I don't even pay attention.

It's so interesting how success hits people and how they react to it.

As an artist, you have to work really, really hard because you gotta make something that will allow people to even take the chance to even listen to it, you know?