I have loved works of fiction precisely for their illusions, for the author's sleight-of-hand in showing me the magic, what appeared in the right hand but not in the left.

I hid my deepest feelings so well I forgot where I placed them.

My mother said I was a clingy kid until I was about four. I also remember that from the age of eight she and I fought almost every day.

If you can't change your fate, change your attitude.

So sad! This is the saddest part when you lose someone you love- that person keeps changing. And later you wonder, Is this the same person I lost?

I am like a falling star who has finally found her place next to another in a lovely constellation, where we will sparkle in the heavens forever.

Writing is an extreme privilege but it's also a gift. It's a gift to yourself and it's a gift of giving a story to someone.

I was six when my mother taught me the art of invisible strength..."strongest wind cannot be seen."

How can you blame a person for his fears and weaknesses unless you have felt the same and done differently?

Libraries are the pride of the city.

Who knows where inspiration comes from. Perhaps it arises from desperation. Perhaps it comes from the flukes of the universe, the kindness of the muses.

Confidence is the attitude of success.

When the sounds of the world around you vanish, what is left but screaming silence.

... why are so many religious people arguing about the origin of the species but so few concerned about the extinction of the species?

I tend to take [ to Bridget Jones Diaries] something that nearly happened, or might have happened, and then exaggerate it to make it funny and to make it tie into the themes.

When I could no longer cling to my normal supports I discovered that true support and real safety lie far beyond the structures of our world.

The weak can never forgive.

Between friends there is no bribery. ... the relationship of friends is intrinsically fair and equal. Neither feels stronger or more clever or more beautiful than the other.

There are no perfect women in the world; only hypocrites exhibit no defects.

Kung fu and soccer are the two things that I was most interested in as a child.

Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Give a man a poisoned fish, you feed him for the rest of his life.