I had the good fortune of having a happy, closely knit family.

Don't classify me, read me. I'm a writer, not a genre.

Recognize yourself in he and she who are not like you and me.

Writing is a struggle against silence.

The United States has written the white history of the United States. It now needs to write the black, Latino, Indian, Asian and Caribbean history of the United States.

Art gives life to what history killed. Art gives voice to what history denied, silenced, or persecuted. Art brings truth to the lies of history.

I need, therefore I imagine.

One wants to tell a story, like Scheherezade, in order not to die. It's one of the oldest urges in mankind. It's a way of stalling death.

What's happened at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq is one of the grossest violations of human rights under the Geneva Conventions that we have record of. It is simply monstrous.

Literature overtakes history, for literature gives you more than one life. It expands experience and opens new opportunities to readers.

You start by writing to live. You end by writing so as not to die.

A house is just a house for its structure and matter but when you add to this a warm caring family the house transforms into a home.

Dogs own space and cats own time.

Not all who are lost are lost forever.

I'm totally the 'decorate early, start listening to Christmas songs super early' guy. I've just always been that way.

I've never looked forward to a birthday like I'm looking forward to my new daughter's birthday, because two days after that is when I can apply for reinstatement.

The only man who makes money following the races is one who does it with a broom and shovel.

Here the ways of men divide. If you wish to strive for peace of soul and happiness, then believe; if you wish to be a disciple of truth, then inquire.

It is a feeble compassion that pulls up short where self-interest begins.

Don't fall in love with politicians, they're all a disappointment. They can't help it, they just are.

The real problem in speech is not precise language. The problem is clear language.