I don't know why women are so mad about flowers. Personally, they leave me cold. I prefer trees.

Will you lie to me and promise to read them? Books need to be read. The pages need to be turned.

Yes, I hate it when people call me a 'national treasure'. It takes away your bite and makes you feel like a harmless old golden Labrador.

Love is the only thing that keeps me sane.

I married two weeks after my 18th birthday, far too young, and by the time I was 23 I was a single mother of three small children, Sean, Daniel and Victoria, living in a prefab house.

Most social problems could be helped or prevented if people had more money and practical advice.

Every time I start a new piece of work, I spend a long while under the duvet thinking I can't do it.

There's only one thing more boring than listening to other people's dreams, and that's listening to their problems.

I think we take it for granted that if you are with your husband after 30 years, then he is the love of your life.

I am from the working class. I am now what I was then. No amount of balsamic vinegar and Prada handbags could make me forget what it was like to be poor.

8.45 a.m. My mother is in the hospital grounds smoking a cigarette. She is looking old and haggard. All the debauchery is catching up with her.

Empowered Women 101: Confident women know the difference between being a meal ticket and being the meal.

Our species needs, and deserves, a citizenry with minds wide awake and a basic understanding of how the world works.

All of us, as we mature and grow up - if we're doing life right - we evolve.

Virtue when concealed is a worthless thing.

Don't divide the world into 'them' and 'us.' Avoid infatuation with or resentment of the press, the Congress, rivals, or opponents. Accept them as facts. They have their jobs and you have yours.

Cat lovers turn into cat collectors.

I don't mean that to be egotistical, but I'm not writing fluff. I'm not writing for 8-year-olds. I'm a woman and I'm a rock girl.

Tell Yao Ming, 'Ching-chong-yang-wah-ah-soh.'

I may yet move [from Nashville], and where would I move if not Texas or New Mexico? I couldn't afford a home in California. I need to travel out of there occasionally.

Oh Lion in a peculiar guise, Sharp Roman road to Paradise, Come eat me up, I'll pay thy toll With all my flesh, and keep my soul.