I'm sold as a literary writer in Holland; I'm sold as crime fiction in England. I think of it as just literature.

You can take my heart, but I can't let you take my dog.

Don't try to follow in my footsteps. Make your own footsteps! No one else can tell the stories that are inside of you except for you.

Keeping libraries open, giving access to all children to all books is vital to our nation's sovereignty.

I never felt isolated; I just liked being alone. I think that some people are good at being alone, and some people arent, and as a child, I really liked it.

Reading is not just an escape. It is access to a better way of life.

Everybody had something horrible happen to them at one time or another in their life.

[On men:] ... you never know what they're like until you get them home and take them out of their packages.

As a Southerner, I love obstacles for my characters.

Everyone had a reason for everything they did, even if that reason was sometimes stupidity.

You didn't realize what was passing you by until you slowed down a little bit to get a better look.

Meaning is often found embedded in the silent moments of our lives when we can hear and see what matters most, the things audible and visible only to the spirit.

Independence is like a flower that nurtures itself in the light of another.

A pear-tree planted nigh: 'Twas charg'd with fruit that made a goodly show, And hung with dangling pears was every bough.

There are two billion fellow human beings who live on less than $2 a day.

You can’t get away from yourself, but you can get yourself out of the way.

I like to think of myself as the middleman between Fred Allen and Henny Youngman.

Because I cannot rely on myself, I rely on Him, twenty-four hours a day.

Being surrounded by six Brendons is so not fun.

My master's degree was in English literature.

The king is the man who can.