A practical girl never pines; she takes action.

I look at my roommates who are so proud of me that it makes me proud.

That's when you know for sure somebody loves you. They figure out what you need and they give it to you - without you asking.

A good mother is irreplaceable.

I like it when my mother smiles. And I especially like it when I make her smile.

But what Mom never told me is that along the way, you find sisters, and they find you. Girls are cool that way.

We hang out, we help one another, we tell one another our worst fears and biggest secrets, and then just like real sisters, we listen and don't judge.

Mama always said a good family has one heartbeat. No one knows you like the people you live with, and no one will take up your cause to the outside world quite like your blood relatives.

I even love the smell of books.

I don't settle in any other area of my life when it comes to excellence, so why should I lower my standards when it comes to boys?

There are two kinds of people in this world. Those who want to know the facts, and those who want to make up a nice story to feel better. I wish I was the kind who made up stories.

Love means to love that which is unlovable or it is no virtue at all.

Yes, I wrote songs. I was becoming kind of an Enrique Iglesias kind of a singer, with those ballads and cheesy romantic things.

Just because you're an avid reader doesn't mean you're an avid understander.

My love of soft, runny cheese - it's impossible to resist.

All religions promise a reward beyond life, in eternity, for excellences of the will or heart, but none for excellences of the head or understanding.

There is nothing easier than lopping off heads and nothing harder than developing ideas.

I definitely don't feel like I'm 71. I feel like I did when I was - between 30 and 40. The body ages. The mind doesn't.

I do not believe in a personal God.

First, there is no typical grief cycle, and second, it's not something I went through. I'm still grieving.

The press of my foot to the earth springs a hundred affections.