I was shy. Bookish. The kind of 13-year-old girl who, instead of having a boyfriend, would have a crush on a dead, 19th-century author!

Im going to be shaking my booty when Im 55.

I wish I had appreciated my youth - I should have worn tighter clothing when I could have!

For your kindness, I'm in debt to you. For your selflessness, my admiration.

Poetry comes alive to me through recitation.

I've raised my daughter with no television.

TV holds a close second to cars for destroying our society. It's a failed experiment.

I don't want to live in a culture of despair. I'd like to live in a culture of hope.

Life is sweet, life is also very short.

The research phase was really fascinating - I'm not a closeted nerd, I'm an out-of-the-closet nerd.

Have I been wrong? Have I been wise to shut my eyes?

What was Dr. Mera's motive for murder? I don't need to tell that to a writer of detective novels such as yourself. You know well enough yourself that even without a motive, a murderer lives to kill.

Christmas is, of course, the time to be home - in heart as well as body.

Being an umpire wasn't such a tough job. You really have to understand only two things and that's maintaing discipline and knowing the rule book.

Putin's an egomaniac, so there are two ways he can process his ego mania. He can say, "Oh, I stood up to the U.S.," or, "Hey, I'm essential to the world order."

Love was not specified in the design of your brain; it is merely an endearing algorithm that freeloads on the leftover processing cycles.

It takes a little bit of mindfulness and a little bit of attention to others to be a good listener, which helps cultivate emotional nurturing and engagement.

I have a fan base that some people say is equal to that of signed artists' maybe even more.

I am the poet of the poor, because I was poor when I loved; since I could not give gifts, I gave words.

Work in the invisible world at least as hard as you do in the visible.

Let the League of Nations say whatever it pleases, let America offer whatever interference, let China decry Japan's action at the top of her voice, but Japan must adhere to her course unswervingly.