I never discuss a novel while I'm writing it, for fear that talking about it will diminish my desire to write it.

The functions of intellect are insufficient without courage, love, friendship, compassion and empathy.

The whisper of the dusk is night shedding its husk.

Where there is cake, there is hope. And there is always cake.

Petting, scratching, and cuddling a dog could be as soothing to the mind and heart as deep meditation and almost as good for the soul as prayer.

Nothing is worse than being alone on the evening of the day when one's cow has exploded.

Only once in a generation does anything as fresh as a vomiting detective come along.

The hands of every clock are shears, trimming us away scrap by scrap, and every time piece with a digital readout blinks us towards implosion.

Most people tend to think the best of those who are blessed with beauty; we have difficulty imagining that physical perfection can conceal twisted emotions or a damaged mind.

Any drunk who has tried to put his car where a lamppost stands is a self-educated physicist.

Given my heritage and the ordeal of my childhood, I sometimes wonder why I myself am not insane. Maybe I am.

...her own experience was beginning to tell her that an alert old age can be more keen than the cards.

You burn bright and you burn hard, like a fire in a dumpster, and nobody is so worriedabout you burning as they are worried about the fire spreading.

I think the Lewis and Clark Expedition was the greatest undertaking in American History. I think landing a man on the moon pales next to it.

They call me superman, I'm here to rescue you.

Staying in shape does not come easily, especially as you get older and you don't have as much time or energy to exercise.

It is not your sin - it is your moderation that cries to heaven; your very sparingness in sin cries to heaven!

The yearning to be Afghan, to be part of the country, part of the land helped me separate myself from the casual traveler and claim my Afghan identity.

What is sure is that the satellite view of our world and its evolution is now a common reality.

If you're not upsetting anyone, you're not changing the status quo.

Roland had taught him that self-deception was nothing but pride in disguise, an indulgence to be denied.