Mistakes

We all make mistakes. Too often people are judged by those mistakes. I think the true measure of a man lies in his willingness to right his wrongs.

- Alan Shore playing Cyrano for Denny Crane in Boston Legal - Episode 3x13 - Dumping Bella

The Girl in the Yellow Dress

When I was a sophomore in high school, I attended my very first dance. There was this girl standing across the dance floor wearing a yellow dress. She was so beautiful. I didn't have the courage to ask her to dance, perhaps for fear of the long lonely walk back across the gym floor after being refused. I finally willed myself to go ask, and then suddenly she was gone, in a fleeting second...she must have left. I began to imagine what she must've been like. Her laugh, certainly her kiss. I still know exactly what that feels like, though I've never felt it. She's been a figment for 29 years. An imagined standard by which all other women seem to have fallen terribly short. How could they not, after I'd individualized her with every quality I so longed for? I've never met the girl in the yellow dress. Seeing you [in a yellow dress], I guess, I just...

- Alan Shore in Boston Legal - Episode 3x13 - Dumping Bella

Best Friend

Denny Crane: What I give to you, what I share, I do with no one else. I like to think what you give to me, you do with nobody else. Now that may sound silly to you, but here's what I think is silly: the idea that jealousy or fidelity is reserved for romance.

Alan Shore: Gosh, what I get from you, Denny... People walk around today calling everyone their best friend. The term doesn't have any real meaning anymore. Mere acquaintances are lavished with hugs and kisses upon a second or at most third meeting. Birthday cards get passed around offices so everybody can scribble a snippet of sentimentality for a colleague they've barely met. And everyone just loves everyone. As a result, when you tell somebody you love them today, it isn't much heard. I love you, Denny. You are my best friend. I can't imagine going through life without you...as my best friend. [Pause] I'm not going to kiss you, however.

- Boston Legal - Episode 3x09 - On The Ledge

Our Deepest Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

- Timo Cruz in Coach Carter, originally by Marianne Williamson