I think you have an obligation to share what you know as a writer.

When it comes time to sit down and write the next book, you're deathly afraid that you're not up to the task. That was certainly the case with me after Snow Falling on Cedars.

The status quo was rote memorization and recitation in classrooms thronged with passive children who were sternly disciplined when they expressed individual needs.

My father is a practicing criminal law attorney in the Seattle area.

At one level you're condemned to the voice you have. But within those confines, you have a certain amount of freedom to range among your possible voices.

There are things in this universe that we cannot control, and then there are the things we can. . . . Let fate, coincidence, and accident conspire; human beings must act on reason.

What some people interpret as brooding melancholy is serenity. I don't feel required to grasp all the time.

accident ruled every corner of the universe except the chambers of the human heart.

There's a certain nostalgia and romance in a place you left.

It's a brooding melancholy that haunts me.

I'm interested in themes that endure from generation to generation.

People love you and value you by, how good you are? And not by, how good you look.

No day is so bad it can't be fixed with a nap.

The notion that patience is a virtue is something you don't fully appreciate until you're a parent. You need endless patience with little ones.

National legislation will prevent other states' flawed concealed-weapons laws from threatening the safety of Illinois residents.

I did not want my people killed. I did not want bloodshed.

It's not what you say, it's what people hear.

A lot of people I went to college with felt like they wanted to pursue theater exclusively, so I don't think that I really was in competition with people that I went to school with.

Reflect upon the defects of your character: thoroughly realize their evils and the transient pleasures they give you, and firmly will that you shall try your best not to yield to them the next time.

I always urge players to study composed problems and endgames.

The studios have their list of five actresses and whether they're right or wrong for a role doesn't matter. It's how much money their last movie made.