Oprah made me cry again by telling the story of how the wife of a politician said some kind words to her when she was 8 years old. The simple complimentary statement rang through Oprah's head her whole life... and shaped her self-perception. I couldn't help thinking of the Sondheim song "Children will listen" from INTO THE WOODS.

I try very hard to focus on the good and beautiful in human nature and in the world... even though there is so much negativity that I can hardly stand leaving the house sometimes. Unkindess is like cigarette smoke: it smells bad... and it's poisonous... I'd rather not be around it.

I hope my art inspires others to be creative. I hope my love inspires others to love. And I'll go on singing my song as long as I have a breath left in my body... but I tell, ya, I'm awfully tired of fighting the tide.

Now I know why "hope" was considered an "evil" in the myth of Pandora (after she let loose all the woes into the world, "hope" was the last bug left in her jar... the jar became a box in later versions of the myth).