For a bookworm like Mother, a Brontë novel sister was better than a biological one.

In fiction, beauty was run-of-the-mill.

Choosing between day and night. Edgar and Heathcliff.

Being a good mother, it seemed to me, meant you ran the risk of losing your child.

Every man reaches his destination, if he just keeps walking

I enjoy painting, cutting the lawn and working in the garden when I have time. That's therapy for me. I enjoy working with my hands.

The key to all enlightenment is to have personal experiences in the world of light. All you need to do that is to meditate.

[Barack Obama's ] only principle is his own aggrandizement. This is a very dangerous mindset for a president to have.

Ultimately, I think writing is a mixture of craft, inspiration, and being incredibly, courageously explorative with yourself - and being brutally honest, too.

Turning toward what you deeply love saves you

I put that part of myself into both Brendan and Evelyn [from The Thorn and the Blossom] - as well as some of my own anxieties about the academic life!

The greatest service which can be rendered any country is to add a useful plant to its culture. --The Fruit Hunters

One day posterity will remember these strange times, when ordinary common honesty was called courage.