I love research, and in fact it's liberating because you have to create your own world. No one can say "I've just got back from the 1860s, and you got it wrong." Anyway, it's fiction.

Clearly the secret of happiness...is a variation on the general principle of banging your head against a wall, and then stopping.

I despise this weakness in myself - this endless one-sided conversation that takes the place of action.

...it just goes to show you can't leave anything behind. You bring it all with you, whether you want to or not.

I definitely do feel a pull toward people and places that are far from my own life.

Just because we think of wolves (or the wilderness, or another race) as wild and fierce, doesn't mean there isn't another side to them.

I don't think I could write about someone I didn't feel some sympathy for.

I don't use real people for inspiration.

If writers stuck to firsthand experience, novels would be pretty limited.

I suppose the short chapters and differing narrative points of view are quite "cinematic" devices, which came very naturally to me.

Initially I only decided to try and write a novel because I wasn't getting enough screenwriting work. It wasn't a long-held ambition, and certainly the idea came first.

Success is for those who are persistent in the face of reality. The harsher the truth, the stronger they hold on to their dreams.

Be warned - Hammond does tend to be a bit optimistic about these kind of things. If the army were made up of one-legged mutes, he would praise their balance and their listening skills.

Our forbears worked hard this difficult land, and their reward was the freedom and independence of self-sufficiency.

One of the great responsibilities that I have is to manage my assets wisely, so that they create value.

In fashion, there are so many gangs, if you identify too much with one, you get caught - I would lose my freedom.

I don't feel that I view things with a pessimistic eye. I should try to say which way events will go rather than which way events should go. We have to be realistic.

From the the protection of different and unequal faculties of acquiring property, the possession of different degrees and kinds of property immediately results.

We are seekers of the truth, but we do not embody the truth. And in humility, we should recognize that the same can be said about our most ardent foes.

I think mascara is a must. If I'm going to wear makeup somewhere, and I'm doing it, it's usually really simple - it's just mascara and maybe a tiny bit of eyeshadow, but that's it.

God’s Word does not merely impart information; it actually creates life. It’s not only descriptive; it’s effective too, God speaking is God acting.