A new year can begin only because the old year ends.

We have to be braver than we think we can be, because God is constantly calling us to be more than we are.

The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been.

Agape love is...profound concern for the well-being of another, without any desire to control that other, to be thanked by that other, or to enjoy the process.

When we believe in the impossible, it becomes possible, and we can do all kinds of extraordinary things.

A book, too, can be a star, a living fire to lighten the darkness, leading out into the expanding universe.

Like it or not, we either add to the darkness of indifference and out-and-out evil which surrounds us or we light a candle to see by.

Creativity comes from accepting that you're not safe, from being absolutely aware, and from letting go of control. It's a matter of seeing everything - even when you want to shut your eyes.

It was a dark and stormy night.

Because we fail to listen to each other's stories, we are becoming a fragmented human race.

If we are not willing to fail we will never accomplish anything. All creative acts involve the risk of failure.

The greatest wisdom is to understand emptiness.

If you wait for the perfect moment when all is safe and assured, it may never arrive. Mountains will not be climbed, races won, or lasting happiness achieved.

C" is for colonies Rightly we boastthat of all the great nationsGreat Britain has most!

You can find me at three in the morning in my living room with a glass of wine and really bad '90s trip hop beats blaring from my headphones.

I learned to produce whether I wanted to or not. It would be easy to say oh, I have writer's block, oh, I have to wait for my muse. I don't. Chain that muse to your desk and get the job done.

Ignorance breeds fear; the more you learn about your subject, the less fear it holds for you.

When writing a novel a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a caricature.

Bill Rehnquist makes Barry Goldwater look like a liberal.

You learn so much from taking chances, whether they work out or not. Either way, you can grow from the experience and become stronger and smarter.

This is a collaborative enterprise," she says. "You have to surround yourself with good people and help them to do what they do well, as opposed to micromanaging.