I started a second novel seven times and I had to throw them away.

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.

The spirit of counsel enables a person to look for something new and to search further anddeeper.

How many innocent victims of hate crime does it take before it becomes wrong?For us, one is already too many. For them, a thousand is not enough.

Our father the novelist; my husband the poet. He belongs to the ages - just don't catch him at breakfast. Artists, celebrated for their humanity, they turn out to be scarcely human at all.

There's no such thing as bad weather, just soft people.

My mum's parents were from Ireland, my dad's mum was American-Irish.

The Romans worshipped their standard; and the Roman standard happened to be an eagle. Our standard is only one tenth of an eagle,--a dollar, but we make all even by adoring it with tenfold devotion.

Man is the only animals of which I am thoroughly and cravenly afraid.

I could get into bed with James Bond, then take my false leg off and it would really be a gun.

By pursuing any one of our dreams, we can find fulfillment. We don't need to pursue them all.

No problem is insoluble, given a big enough plastic bag.