I think if a book has the power to move a reader, it also has the power to offend a reader. And you want your books to have power, so you just have to take what comes with that.

The name we give to something shapes our attitude toward it.

To fear is one thing. To let fear grab you by the tail and swing you around is another.

It is not enough to simply teach children to read; we have to give them something worth reading.

Peace is not won by those who fiercely guard their differences, but by those who with open minds and hearts seek out connections.

I love revision. Where else can spilled milk be turned into ice cream?

As much pleasure as young people get from Twittering and texting, there is no way these activities will nourish their minds and spirits the way literature can.

Reading can be a road to freedom or a key to a secret garden, which, if tended, will transform all of life.

As I look back on what I have written, I can see that the very persons who have taken away my time are those who have given me something to say.

Some folks are natural born kickers. They can always find a way to turn disaster into butter.

I love to read. But I loved to read a lot longer than I started to love writing.

Not knowing you can't do something, is sometimes all it takes to do it.

Today I am the happiest man in the world, my son was born and thanks to God for this gift.

There is no truth. There is only perception.

The facts: nothing matters but the facts: worship of the facts leads to everything, to happiness first of all and then to wealth.

It was in the Theatre St. Philippe (they has laid a temporary floor over the parquette seats) in the city we now call New Orleans, in the month of September, and in the year 1803.

To have an opinion about somebody you've never met before is pretty superficial.

They tell me: If you see a slave sleeping, do not wake him lest he be dreaming of freedom. I tell them: If you see a slave sleeping, wake him and explain to him freedom.

All our handling of the child will bear fruit, not only at the moment, but in the adult they are destined to become.

It's a mistake to dwell too much on the consequences of a piece of work that you're making.

I actually picked up copies of Decline I and II at a flea market once. I walked out without paying.