February is just plain malicious. It knows your defenses are down.

The name we give to something shapes our attitude toward it.

To fear is one thing. To let fear grab you by the tail and swing you around is another.

It is not enough to simply teach children to read; we have to give them something worth reading.

Peace is not won by those who fiercely guard their differences, but by those who with open minds and hearts seek out connections.

I love revision. Where else can spilled milk be turned into ice cream?

As much pleasure as young people get from Twittering and texting, there is no way these activities will nourish their minds and spirits the way literature can.

Reading can be a road to freedom or a key to a secret garden, which, if tended, will transform all of life.

As I look back on what I have written, I can see that the very persons who have taken away my time are those who have given me something to say.

Some folks are natural born kickers. They can always find a way to turn disaster into butter.

I love to read. But I loved to read a lot longer than I started to love writing.

Understanding is a three edged sword: your side, their side, and the truth.

True beauty could be discovered only by one who mentally complete the incomplete.

Don't be discouraged by people who tease you out of your dreams. What you have in your heart is bigger than what they have on their lips!

A place with no handholds, no landmarks, no past at all:That would have been too much like dying

Only dead people need loud music, you know.

It's true we're all a little insane.

I have soundtracks for a lot of stuff.

If we had had the privilege of giving hospitality to a Ho Chi Minh, with what respect and interest we would have served him, as a man of vision, as a patriot, a rebel against foreign invaders.

The world is terrified of joyful women. Make a stand. Be one anyway.