And Alex understood that Scotty Hausmann did not exist. He was a word casing in human form: a shell whose essence has vanished.

I was a stepchild in two different families. The hardest thing about being a stepchild is you know that in some way everything would be easier if you didnt exist.

If I had a view like this to look down on every day, I would have the energy and inspiration to conquer the world. The trouble is, when you most need such a view, no one gives it to you.

Read at the level at which you want to write. Reading is the nourishment that feeds the kind of writing you want to do.

Goon Squad' took about three years to write and that's the short end. My second novel, 'Look at Me,' took six years.

I don’t want to fade away, I want to flame away - I want my death to be an attraction, a spectacle, a mystery. A work of art.

Because you can't write habitually and well all the time, you have to be willing to write badly. That's how you get the regularity that enables you to be present for the good stuff.

Reading is the nourishment that lets you do interesting work.

I'm always happy," Sasha said. "Sometimes I just forget.

The answers were maddeningly absent—it was like trying to remember a song that you knew made you feel a certain way, without a title, artist, or even a few bars to bring it back.

Vinegar: that's what fear smells like.

Character is what a man is in the dark.

I do believe that God blessed me in life with a wonderful family, a successful career, and a loving marriage, and remain thankful for that blessing.

There is none of you but will hang me, I know, whenever you can clinch me within your power.

When I open many books, or most leading women's magazines, or see almost all TV shows, I don't find myself at all. I am completely anonymous. My value system is not there.

Let us often think of our own infirmities, and we shall become indulgent toward those of others.

In my early days in Hollywood I tried to be economical. I designed my own clothes, much to my mother's distress.

Fear is a message - sometimes helpful, sometimes not - but often conveying critical information about our beliefs, our needs, and our relationship to the world around us.

We were created for meaningful work, and one of life's greatest pleasures is the satisfaction of a job well done.

The object of true education is to make people not merely do the right things, but enjoy them

I believe that politics takes a much different set of skills than science. Science is about getting to the truth. Politics is about what people think and how they react.