I was haunted by a bear attack that happened in Algonquin Park in 1991. The problem was that I dont believe in ghosts, so that ruled out an exorcism. My other choice was to start writing.

The feat of surviving is directly related to the capacity of the survivor.

I would get a lot of writing done if I lived in isolation in a cave under a swamp.

The body needs food, warmth and water, but your heart needs more.

A young woman hiking alone in the mountains sounds dangerous. In the pre-cell phone era maybe it was, but Ill stop short of calling it foolish.

How do you solve a mystery? How do you write a book? The techniques for starting both are surprisingly similar. Find an intriguing question and, pen and dagger tucked under cloak, search for clues.

Parents spend a lot of time talking over kids. My son went through a vocabulary burst as I was writing The Bear. I thought, What if I just stopped and listened?

I love the Internet, and I love wasting time on the Internet - even though it sometimes ends up being not being a waste of time.

I like situations that push a character to the edge.

Kindness is soft and humble like water, but it is the ultimate power of life.

We’re in charge of our own forgiveness, and the process takes time, patience, and intention.

If I run a time-limited test program, I'll never discover whether markets with additional employment truly exist. A solution in the low-wage sector cannot be a limited special program.

We are moving from a chain of command to a web of connection, from competition to collaboration, from markets to networks and stockholders to stakeholders, and greed to green.

The alcohol had the code and mystery about it as a writer's drug, but I'm glad that's been debunked. But the trouble with the drinking, much as I hate to admit it, is it helped the work.

It is time to search out your uniqueness, applaud and acknowledge yourself, and let your own light shine.

The best things arrive on time.

So much has been given me I have no time to ponder over that which has been denied.

Bad leadership during the past years has cast on our Party the shadow of great and grave burdens.

It is a great paradox - almost everyone wants to improve his circumstances but almost no one wants to improve himself.