For thus the royal mandate ran, When first the human race began, "The social, friendly honest man, Whate'er he be, Tis he fulfils great Nature's plan, And none but he!"

Oh would some power the gift give us, to see ourselves as others see us!

My heart 's in the Highlands, my heart is not here; My heart 's in the Highlands a-chasing the deer.

Now's the day and now's the hour.

Gie me ae spark o' Nature's fire, That's a' the learning I desire.

There is no such uncertainty as a sure thing.

The snowdrop and primrose our woodlands adorn, and violets bathe in the wet o' the morn.

The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men, Gang aft a-gley, And leave us nought but grief and pain, For promised joy.

Dare to be honest and fear no labor.

But pleasures are like poppies spread, You seize the flower, it's bloom is shed; Or, like the snow-fall in the river, A moment white, then melts forever.

I watched him with wonder like the stars watch the moon, falling in love with every crescent, dark side, and dream.

Write what you feel like writing at first without worrying about how it sounds. That's what second drafts are for. Enjoy the first one!

The man who suspects his own tediousness has yet to be born.

When I make a book, I make it for the child and not for the parent - no jokes in it for the parents!

He's so full of alcohol, if you put a lighted wick in his mouth he'd burn for three days.

Somebody told me I should put a pebble in my mouth to cure my stuttering. Well, I tried it, and during a scene I swallowed the pebble. That was the end of that.

If you have a wounded heart, touch it as little as you would an injured eye. There are only two remedies for the suffering of the soul: hope and patience.

Every day we're given opportunities, some of us see them and some are too busy to notice.

I always get up for every game, but this game is especially big. It's a do-or-die thing. This could be (decide) whoever wins the regular-season championship.

I'm not a reader of young adult fiction for the simple reason that these novelists are writing for adolescents, so they are not writing for me.