Land and sea weakness and decline are great separators but death is the great divorcer for ever.

I put on the Hank Williams and the Patsy Cline and the Rosemary Clooney on vinyl - I'm not trying to be some cool indie-rock person I just love the way it sounds - and throw on a T-shirt and jeans. In Texas we practically come out of the womb in jeans.

There is at least one point in the history of any company when you have to change dramatically to rise to the next level of performance. Miss that moment - and you start to decline.

Those who excel in virtue have the best right of all to rebel but then they are of all men the least inclined to do so.

Even in decline a virtuous man increases the beauty of his behavior. A burning stick though turned to the ground has its flame drawn upwards.

So at a time in which the media give the public everything it wants and desires maybe art should adopt a much more aggressive attitude towards the public. I myself am very much inclined to take this position.

Does art have a future? Performance genres like opera theater music and dance are thriving all over the world but the visual arts have been in slow decline for nearly 40 years. No major figure of profound influence has emerged in painting or sculpture since the waning of Pop Art and the birth of Minimalism in the early 1970s.

It's amazing to hear as a voice matures and then starts to decline what kind of emotion is still conveyed by a really good vocalist.

In our open society we are inclined to give to the less fortunate for the pure goodness of giving. We open our home to those who are alone on this holiday to spread some warmth into the life of another.

We can recognize the dawn and the decline of love by the uneasiness we feel when alone together.