I hate to generalize because there are always so many exceptions to any rule.

Anything is possible. A man is what he makes up his mind to be.

Whatever I do in life, I'm almost always aware that there's another way to do it.

I like to listen. I'm much more interested in listening than in speaking, for sure.

When I think about why I would be a writer, why I should continue to be a writer, it seems to me one of the few things you can dowhere you're never bored.

... there is ... a big aspect of play in writing novels, and making the story more and more elaborate is just more and more fun.

I think that there is a bias in the current literary climate, which is not only very Western but very male.

A white person was by definition somebody. Other people needed, across their hearts, one steel rib.

A man was the sum of his limits; freedom only made him see how much so.

It's human to hear stories and to know how people live and to imagine how that is for them. It's very interdependent!

Chinese language tends to be quick, economical. To know what people are saying, you always need to know what the context is.

Then what are you? An electronic Hannibal Lector? You can't eat my liver with fava beans through a modem, you know.

God has chosen to make the heavens his jurisdiction while at the same time he himself makes it very clear that the earth has been given to man as man’s sphere of influence.

But if you don't understand that story is character and not just idea, you will not be able to breathe life into even the most intriguing flash of inspiration.

I used to be neurotic. I didn't like myself very much. But somewhere in my mid-40s, my neuroses stopped seeming so important. I developed a sense of humor.

Be different-if you don't have the facts and knowledge required, simply listen. When word gets around that you can listen when others tend to talk, you will be treated as a sage.

Self-admiration giveth much consolation.

Sometimes it's overwhelming but I love my fans and it's always great to see them.

The pursuit of perfection, then, is the pursuit of sweetness and light.

My grandma has said many of the things her character says. But she was much nicer! I made her meaner for dramatic purposes.

Our security doesn't come from turning away from the hard stuff; it comes from the knowledge that we can handle it.