Ignorance is a self-generating state of mind; one of its characteristics is that it doesn't recognize itself as ignorance.

Oh, that sound? I'm in the hot tub, reading a novel.

Many people, myself among them, feel better at the mere sight of a book.

Every first draft is perfect, because all a first draft has to do is exist.

I suspected that there were things he knew that I had been waiting all my life to learn.

In many ways, being honest about 'Huckleberry Finn' goes right to the heart of whether we can be honest about our heritage and our identity as Americans.

Even if my marriage is falling apart and my children are unhappy, there is still a part of me that says, 'God, this is fascinating!'

Take naps. Often new ideas come together when you are half asleep, but you have to train yourself to remember them.

Candy is my fuel. Ice cream, too.

But what truly horsey girls discover in the end is that boyfriends, husbands, children, and careers are the substitute-for horses

In every society, the artists will be the ones who set themselves up as contrary to whatever the society expects.

..he had trampled her poor, pining heart, and the wound was still raw, even these many years later.

the vehicle depends upon its fuel to operate effectively

But how do you ever know that you know a person?

My favorite thing about being a mom is just what a better person it makes you on a daily basis.

The church is not an institution forcing us to follow rules but a community inviting us to still our hunger and thirst at its table.

Why live outside the US? Do you want health care or safe food products or democracy or something? They're all overrated. Stay for the excellent cable TV.

Right, well, he'd been sick for a while and his nurse said to him, 'You seem to be feeling better this morning,' and Isben looked at her and said, 'On the contrary,' and then he died.

When the bombers are women - and children, which I predict we'll see more of - the terrorists get more bang for their buck, because there's more media attention.

If there is one thing I long for above all else, it's that the years to come may see Christianity in this country able again to capture the imagination of our culture.

Because all men are apt to flatter themselves, to entertain the addition of other men's praises is most perilous.