He felt gladness roar through his soul.

I am your number one fan.

He lay back, put his arm over his eyes, and tried to hold onto the anger, because the anger made him feel brave. A brave man could think. A coward couldn't.

Such an ego simply forbade certain lines of thought.

There are lots of guys out there who write a better prose line than I do and who have a better understanding of what people are really like and what humanity is supposed to mean – hell, I know that.

He felt as he always did when he finished a book — queerly empty, let down, aware that for each little success he had paid a toll of absurdity.

... good advice was sometimes easier to give than receive.

A brave man could think. A coward couldn't.

But if you needed to HAVE AN IDEA, boredom could be to a roadblocked novel what chemotherapy was to a cancer patient.

... when editors were flattered, they would sometimes give in on some of their mad ideas.

She was crazy but he needed her. Oh I am in so much trouble he thought, and stared blindly up at the ceiling as the droplets of sweat began to gather on his forehead again.

Think of working forever at something you love to do, for [the] one you love with all your heart, and never getting tired! We will never know weariness in heaven.

...as long as she was worrying about it, it probably wasn't going to happen. Like some sort of anxiety vaccine. Like watching a pot to make sure it never boiled.

Remember, there is nothing wrong with a healthy sense of self-respect.

When you take a lot of stick you want to ram it down people's throats.

I'm definitely attracted to other Australians; I have a laid-back attitude to life that I feel is very Australian; I love a good barbie.

I've written enough books with real celebrities, such as Walter Payton and Hank Aaron and Billy Graham, to know that fame looks good only to people who don't have it.

Success is living up to your potential. That's all. Wake up with a smile and go after life... Live it, enjoy it, taste it, smell it, feel it.

You got your own style, now let it come through. And remember no matter what, you got to be you.

Yes, life in Chechnya so far looks more like a life after a natural disaster.

Among the things you can give and still keep are your word, a smile, and a grateful heart.