I think poets are much more dramatic, more theatrical than fiction writers.

Like most-maybe all- writers, I learned to write by writing and, by example, by reading books.

All the elements of good writing depend on the writer's skill in choosing one word instead of another.

Reading was like eating alone, with that same element of bingeing.

When we humans speak, we are not merely communicating information but attempting to make an impression and achieve a goal.

What I love is how pissed off Jane Eyre is. She's in a rage for the whole novel and the payoff is she gets to marry this blind guy who's toasted his wife in the attic." -Angela Argo "Blue Angel

A lot of girls who turn into something remarkable start off as irrepressible, confident and a handful.

Like seeing a photograph of yourself as a child, encountering handwriting that you know was once yours but that now seems only dimly familiar can inspire a confrontation with the mystery of time.

We never believe we're beautiful, no matter how many times we hear it. We never believe it until someone says it in the right way.

I’ve always found that the better the book I’m reading, the smarter I feel, or, at least, the more able I am to imagine that I might, someday, become smarter.

I know a lot of Eastern Europeans, and because of what they have been through and what they have seen, they have an attitude where they are not easily fooled.

It is nonsense to speak of 'higher' and 'lower' pleasures. To a hungry man it is rightly more important that he eat than that he philosophize.

I was born with a fierce need for independence.

Walking the streets of New York, a lot of people are cheering me on. It feels good.

I love feeling the crispness of fall and the sensuality of spring.

Pleasure is the beginning and the end of living happily. Epicurus taught: Pleasure, defined as freedom from pain, is the highest good.

To me, there's never been a difference between electronic and acoustic. I've always had this idea that electricity is another element like wind or fire or water.

All the secrets of the world worth knowing are hiding in plain site.

The easiest thing in the world for me is to pay attention.

Profound hearts, wise minds, take life as God makes it; it is a long trial, and unintelligible preparation for the unknown destiny.

I know there is pain when sawmills close and people lose jobs, but we have to make a choice. We need water and we need these forests.