I never sat down and said, 'I'm going to write historical fiction with strong romantic elements.' It was just the way the stories went.

Old books exert a strange fascination for me -- their smell, their feel, their history; wondering who might have owned them, how they lived, what they felt.

Patience is only a virtue when there is something worth waiting for.

Tell them I have the headache--no, the plague! I need something nice and contagious.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that one only comes up with clever, cutting remarks long after the other party is happily slumbering away.

LIPID (Last Idiot Person I Dated) syndrome: a largely undiagnosed but pervasive disease that afflicts single women.

They were a strange and mercantile people, these Americans. One never knew what they might come up with next.

Why was it that cheering expressions were invariably so infuriating?

Amazing what the application of a knitting needle could do for one's manners.

Love doesn't attack; it infiltrates.

Quite definitely a Bingley

Those who have no knowledge are often willing to occupy influential positions with the aim of acquiring every possible benefit.

Taking the time to reflect on how you arrived at where you are today can have a massive impact on what your life will be like tomorrow.

No man is more cheated than the selfish man.

If you have a dream, give it a chance to happen.

I don't know if I would go so far to say that I would punch someone in the face, but I would definitely stand up for my lady. But sometimes it's more attractive to use your words than your fists.

Everybody should pay some tax, just as everybody should vote.

Hating the Yankees isn't part of my act. It is one of those exquisite times when life and art are in perfect conjunction.

Those of us who are locked into ineffective expressions of anger suffer as deeply as those of us who dare not get angry at all.

It's hard to hate up close. The more you get to know each other, the more common ground you can find and the more you can disagree without being disagreeable.

When you've done something, certainly if you create a piece of music, you then hear it with fresh ears when you play it for somebody else.