Childrens books change lives. Stories pour into the hearts of children and help make them what they become.

Time may heal all wounds, but it does not erase the scars.

Literature is a textually transmitted disease, normally contracted in childhood.

A book is a wonderful present. Though it may grow worn, it will never grow old.

Love the writing, love the writing, love the writing... the rest will follow.

It's never perfect when I write it down the first time, or the second time, or the fifth time. But it always gets better as I go over it and over it.

Take a step, breathe in the world, give it out again in story, poem, song, art.

Ideas are the cheapest part of the writing. They are free. The hard part is what you do with ideas you've gathered.

Language helps develp life as surely as it reflects life. It is a most important part of our human condition.

Stories," he'd said, his voice low and almost husky, "we are made up of stories. And even the one's that seem the most like lies can be our deepest hidden truths.

Exercise the writing muscle every day.

If I spend every moment, for the rest of my days, thanking God for all his goodness to us, that would still not be enough.

I traded cowardice for cruelty

Their leafy whispers delighted her, and she promised her confidentiality by gently touching the trunks of both trees. They had held her secrets close to their hearts, she could do no less.

My mother was an activist so was my father. They came from a generation of young Somalis who were actively involved in getting independence for Somalia in 1960.

The quality of your play never counts as much as the quality of your effort.

I fell in love with social work, and that was my undoing as a poet.

every short story is an experiment - what one must ask is not only, did it come off, but was it, as an experiment, worth making?

The one who acts is always without conscience; nobody has a conscience but the contemplative person.

If I'm 40 years old and wearing a 30 waist, that's pretty good.

Some of us are more concerned with our reputation than our character. The latter takes care of the former.