I think I was dealt a good hand. I have happy genes.

I don't have ugly ducklings turning into swans in my stories. I have ugly ducklings turning into confident ducks.

I try to make my characters kind of ordinary, somebody that anybody could be. Because we've all had loves, perhaps love and loss, people can relate to my characters.

Nobody is ordinary if you know where to look.

I'm an escapist kind of writer.

Women who start out as ugly ducklings don't become beautiful swans. What they mainly become is confident ducks. They take charge of their lives.

The whole art of life is knowing the right time to say things.

Always write as if you are talking to someone. It works. Don't put on any fancy phrases or accents or things you wouldn't say in real life.

If you don't go to a dance you can never be rejected but you'll never get to dance either.

Because I saw my parents relaxing in armchairs and reading and liking it, I thought it was a peaceful grown-up thing to do, and I still think that.

We are all the heroes and heroines of our own lives. Our love stories are amazingly romantic; our losses and betrayals and disappointments are gigantic in our own minds.

It was mathematical, marriage. Not, as one might expect, additional. It was exponential.

What happened when we died? How were we to know that death wasn't as profound an adventure as life was?

Skylar, you have to understand... All the things I did... I did it for me. I liked it. I was good at it. And... I was... really... I was alive.

Much later in life, though, Gracie made a major contribution to the opera world. She stayed out of it.

A young boy shouldn't be given up for hopeless just because he's lazy, surly, and good for nothing. Don't be discouraged by those things - maybe he's just trying to be like his daddy.

with the breakdown of the medieval system, the gods of chaos, lunacy, and bad taste gained ascendancy.

Jesus ... HIS sheep, they know His voice and they follow Him whether you disciple them or not!

Human life must always be defended from its beginning in the womb and must be recognised as a gift of God that guarantees the future of humanity.

The thoughts you think today determine the results you'll see tomorrow.

The best lessons, the best sermons are those that are lived.