I think writing is, by definition, an optimistic act.

You cannot find peace by avoiding life.

She could have had a life as potent and dangerous as literature itself.

The secret of flight is this -- you have to do it immediately, before your body realizes it is defying the laws.

There is a beauty in the world, though it's harsher than we expect it to be.

we become the stories we tell ourselves

I was not ladylike, nor was I manly. I was something else altogether. There were so many different ways to be beautiful.

Language in fiction is made up of equal parts meaning and music. The sentences should have rhythm and cadence, they should engage and delight the inner ear.

I suspect any serious reader has a first great book, just the way anybody has a first kiss.

One always has a better book in one's mind than one can manage to get onto paper.

Take me with you. I want a doomed love. I want streets at night, wind and rain, no one wondering where I am.

I glared at Christian as the blood smeared around. “You could have at least licked it.”He smirked darkly. “I hear that all too often.

If you have a dream, only share it with those that are going to support you. Walk toward it on a daily basis and don't let anyone's doubting or negativity throw you off your path.

Every man has three characters: that which he shows, that which he has, and that which he thinks he has.

For the record: I wear makeup. All. The. Time. But I do it in a way that looks natural.

You don't have to twist my arm to work.

If a man went simply by what he saw, he might be tempted to affirm that the essence of democracy is melodrama.

I love discovering tiny streets.

The only prize much cared for by the powerful is power. The prize of the general is not a bigger tent, but command.

Football, fraternities and fun have no place in the university. They were introduced only to entertain those who shouldn't be in the university.

I've never met a man I didn't mutilate.