It takes a long time for some people to grow up. Adulthood
was thrust upon me at eighteen but I wasn't ready then to
be settled and mature. I think I was at least sixty before
I became really responsible. For instance, I did not have
health insurance until then and it didn't worry me. I considered it a big waste of money.

I have always chosen to be happy. Sometimes it entails
choosing a risky path fraught with thorns but generally
it has worked out.

I define true maturity as being able to motivate oneself
and persist in spite of frustration, good impulse control
and the ability to delay gratification, to think things
through even when you are distressed, to be hopeful and
sensitive to the needs of others.

It is essential to be flexible and to take risks when the
outcome really matters. To be really happy you have to
have the ability to live in the moment and to savor it
because the now is all that we truly have.