I think part of a hero construct is overcoming loss, or being abandoned, or having to make your own way in the world.

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.

Our individual reality is borne out of our interpretations. Interpretations come from our experiences.

I tell you the truth, so many people failed to do what they could have done because of the bitter things that happened in the past.

my subconscious so full it must spill over

Newspapers might have as much to do in shaping the course of public events as politicians,

Death is the supreme festival on the road to freedom.

We commonly see problems in adults that had been present since childhood but which take a toll on the heart over time.

Let us live most happily, free from hatred in the midst of the hateful; Let us remain free from hatred in the midst of people who hate.

She needed food. Diets didn't count in a crisis.

If you want your program to be readable, consider supplying the argument.

A thousand policemen directing traffic cannot tell you why you come or where you go.