I am serving the purpose for which I was designed, therefore I am satisfied with my existence.

I always had this non-stop drive. I had to keep sending stories out and every once in awhile I'd get something accepted or get the little trickle of positive feedback.

Each book will have a lot of cliffhangers, because I like that.

A moment of consideration often prevents a thousand apologies

Every spare second I would write, somehow. On my lunch hour, too.

Over the years, I've trained myself to speak using the same language I would use if I were typing: meaning using full sentences in the way that paragraphs and scenes are arranged.

My dad is a bank president and my mom was an accountant and they didn't think that seeking the life of a freelance writer was very practical, you see. Of course, I was just as determined to do it.

If you had an alien race that looked like insects, then they would build robots to look like themselves, not to look like people.

The real key is time management and being able to focus on what you need to, on using every available minute to accomplish something that needs to be done.

One of the things that was kind of shocking for humans... was to come to terms with was the fact that, hey, we may not be the center of the universe.

Wouldn't you like to have an augmented memory chip that you could plug into your head so you don't have to look everything up and remember everything?

son, " Mr. P said. "You're going to find more and more hope the farther and farther you walk away from this sad, sad, sad reservation.

All communication must lead to change

Anger makes you smaller, while forgiveness forces you to grow beyond what you were.

Perfume is a mark of female identity and the final touch of her style

To justify and extol human greed and egotism is to my mind not only immoral, but evil.

Belonging to oneself--the whole essence of life lies in that.

The one thing that unifies men in a given age is not their individual philosophies but the dominant problem that these philosophies are designed to solve.

Let no man grumble when his friends fall off, As they will do like leaves at the first breeze; When your affairs come round, one way or t'other, Go to the coffee house, and take another.

Comedy is an ability to observe and see what's funny in a situation and be able to forget yourself enough to do it.

The Sand Pebbles has always been one of my favorite films, I suppose because its the most difficult film - from a physical and logistical standpoint - that I've ever made.