As A Parent, If Give Yourself What

America Had Shifted From What Influential Cultural Historian Warren Susman Called A Culture Of Character To A Culture Of Personality, And Opened Up A Pandora's Box Of Personal Anxieties Of Which We Would Never Recover.

Solitude Matters. And For Some People It's The Air They Breathe.

It's As If They Have Thinner Boundaries Separating Them From Other People's Emotions And From The Tragedies And Cruelties Of The World.

Whoever You Are, Bear In Mind That Appearance Is Not Reality. Some People Act Like Extroverts, But The Effort Costs Them Energy, Authenticity, And Even Physical Health. Others Seem Aloof Or Self-contained, But Their Inner Landscapes Are Rich And Full Of Drama. So The Next Time You See A Person With A Composed Face And A Soft Voice, Remember That Inside Her Mind She Might Be Solving An Equation, Composing A Sonnet, Designing A Hat. She Might, That Is, Be Deploying The Powers Of Quiet.

The Secret To Life Is To Put Yourself In The Right Lighting. For Some, It's A Broadway Spotlight; For Others, A Lamplit Desk. Use Your Natural Powers -- Of Persistence, Concentration, And Insight -- To Do Work You Love And Work That Matters. Solve Problems. Make Art, Think Deeply.