I wrote Sophies World in three months, but I was only writing and sleeping. I work for 14 hours a day when Im working on a book.

A state that does not educate and train women is like a man who only trains his right arm.

A hydrogen atom in a cell at the end of my nose was once part of an elephant's trunk. A carbon atom in my cardiac muscle was once in the tail of a dinosaur.

How terribly sad it was that people are made in such a way that they get used to something as extraordinary as living.

The most subversive people are those who ask questions.

An answer is always on the stretch of road that is behind you. Only a question can point the way forward.

The question of whether a thing is right or wrong, good or bad, must always be considered in relation to a persons needs.

Wasn’t it extraordinary to be in the world right now, wandering around in a wonderful adventure!

Since the Renaissance, people have had to get used to living their life on a random planet in the vast galaxy.

We are thrown together with a sprinkling of stardust.

Athens is like a sluggish horse, and I am the gadfly trying to sting it into life.

You will never realize how precious a baby is until she keeps you awake through the whole night.

Hmm. I think love is about loving all things, to treat each and every thing and every one as a sovereign being that’s free to make its own choices.

This industry is 90 percent business, 10 percent talent.

Good seasons start with good beginnings.

I had a place in England and was commuting from England to Australia, which is pretty stupid, but after two years I sort of knew what I wanted to do, more or less.

The world is all gates, all opportunities, strings of tension waiting to be struck.

If I could have one wish, it would be for people to look at one another with open hearts and minds. Most of all, to look at each other with compassion. No matter who they are.

Those who will not dance will have to be shot

The second childhood of a saint is the early infancy of a happy immortality, as we believe.

Decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all-powerful to be impotent.