I have a good collection of cookery books. This is not so much because I like cooking, but because I like eating.

The young women in my classes are feisty and clever and believe, often with the passion of youthful optimism, that feminism is a battle already won. I worry for them - and for my daughters, too.

I'm working on a nonfiction book on Nepal and a novel about diasporas.

The richest most meaningful stories are found in small places: made, carried, crafted, told, and retold by apparently unimportant people.

Sometimes I like to play the soundtracks to famous musicals so we can all sing along. South Pacific is one of my favorites. Our neighbors must hate us.

If you can't return a favor, pass it on.

Never give up. And most importantly, be true to yourself. Write from your heart, in your own voice, and about what you believe in.

I can't pick out one single book that had such a profound personal impact.

It took a brave editor in the U.S. to sign a contract for Dancing Girls, and without her belief in the book, I'm not sure it would ever have found its way into print.

Don't call 'em dogs. Dogs are loyal and they run after balls.

I could write an entertaining novel about rejection slips, but I fear it would be overly long.

When we begin to view our experiences through the lens of gratitude, our heart, mind and spirit naturally expand.

How I wish the police service is instructed to arrest people who over-complain! Just arrest them, do no harm to them, but make them do the "work" they complain about with hard labour!

The thing is, memory is about trust. We have to trust that what we remember is fact. And we have to trust what other people remember for things we never saw.

I'm a great admirer of cartoons, because I can't do cartoons.

I've got a hangover." "No, you hit your head on the floor." "I can't stay. I've got to rescue that fool Sophie.

I would feel pretty embarrassed if I was doing what I do and I wasn't at least attempting the eloquent translation of the human experience in some way.

Happiness is a long walk with a putter.

I love wearing trackies to lounge around the house in and the strange thing is, it doesn’t matter how many new ones I get I still tend to feel most comfortable in my old ones.

I have rules about eating, exercising and rules about staying positive. And these rules are sacred to me.

Our greatest responsibility is not to be pencils of the past.