I teach a non-fiction writing class at New York University, and one of my great pleasures is deciding on the syllabus.

Orchid hunting is a mortal occupation.

I think of myself as something of a connoisseur of procrastination, creative and dogged in my approach to not getting things done.

Living in a rural setting exposes you to so many marvelous things - the natural world and the particular texture of small-town life, and the exhilarating experience of open space.

You have to simply love writing, and you have to remind yourself often that you love it.

Libraries are what is best about us as a society: open, exciting, rich, informative, free, inclusive, engaging.

One of the very best reasons for having children is to be reminded of the incomparable joys of a snow day.

A snow day literally and figuratively falls from the sky, unbidden, and seems like a thing of wonder.

An ordinary life examined closely reveals itself to be exquisite and complicated and exceptional, somehow managing to be both heroic and plain.

There's a marvelous sense of mastery that comes with writing a sentence that sounds exactly as you want it to.

Even after I'd published three books and had been writing full-time for twenty years, my father continued to urge me to go to law school.

Who really owns the Earth?Corporations? Governments?Charity Organizations?Or...Should it be the people?You decide!

Religion is a veil that we often use to cover our ugliness.

Michelle, I think it's time you came back to New York with me.

Marriage is not only a package of benefits - it's a status.

To me, being Latin is about more than your looks - it's how you're brought up.

People do what they think works for them, but the sport is about instinct, movement, balance, power... it's too animalistic to get rigid about your training.

I always use given and simple elements, I don't want to add or subtract anything.

Entrepreneurship is the ability to create and build from a vision practically anything; fundamentally it is a human, creative act.

My nephew has HDADHD. High Definition Attention Deficit Disorder. He can barely pay attention, but when he does it's unbelievably clear.

No one but myself thought I could beat guys like Tommy Hearns or Roberto Duran