I've found that my first drafts are not so special. But the more I work on them, the better they get. They are more unique and defensible.

I tend to foster drama via bleakness. If I want the reader to feel sympathy for a character, I cleave the character in half, on his birthday. And then it starts raining. And he's made of sugar.

What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness.

What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness. Those moments when another human being was there, in front of me, suffering, and I responded . . . sensibly. Reservedly. Mildly.

Do those things that incline you toward the big questions, and avoid the things that would reduce you and make you trivial.

Developing our sympathetic compassion is not only possible but the only reason for us to be here on earth.

According to me, your life is going to be a gradual process of becoming kinder and more loving. Hurry up. Speed it along. Start right now.

It's a big world, and I really like it.

Character is that sum total of moments we can't explain.

The generalizing writer is like the passionate drunk, stumbling into your house mumbling: I know I'm not being clear, exactly, but don't you kind of feel what I'm feeling?

Kindness, it turns out, is hard - it starts out all rainbows and puppy dogs, and expands to include . . . well, EVERYTHING.

You've to close down your umbrella when you are under a canopy. Drop your pride

Peace of mind arrives the moment you come to peace with the contents of your mind.

I am sick with caring.

I don't have false teeth. Do you think I'd buy teeth like these?

Jesus continues to offer light, joy, and peace to today's generation.

You know, technology CEOs like to think of themselves as rock 'n roll stars.

I get to be creative and touch other people's lives.

I love great music - it has no color, it has no boundaries.

The price of liberty is, in addition to eternal vigilance, eternal patience with the vacuous blather occasionally expressed from behind the shield of free speech.

If. A two-letter word for futility.