In little pockets of conversation, old men were telling stories of ancient floods. Women were talking of about how much rain there'd been in other towns -- Paragould, Lepanto, and Manila.

In life, finding a voice is speaking and living the truth. Each of you is an original. Each of you has a distinctive voice. When you find it, your story will be told. You will be heard.

One thing you really have to watch as a writer is getting on a soapbox or pulpit about anything. You don't want to alienate readers.

You live your life today, Not tommorow, and certainly not yesterday.

Prisons are fascinating places, especially when the inmates are educated white-collar types.

Jesus preached more and taught more about helping the poor and the sick and the hungry than he did about heaven and hell. Shouldn't that tell us something?

When witnesses concoct lies, they often miss the obvious.

If you're gonna be stupid you gotta be tough.

When you work at street level you never know who's going to walk through your door.

Shame was an emotion he had abandoned years earlier. Addicts know no shame. You disgrace yourself so many times you become immune to it.

judge not that ye be not judged

That's what we storytellers do. We restore order with imagination. We instill hope again and again and again.

I'm sure I've devoted enough thought to Rush Limbaugh for one lifetime.

Publishers never tell writers anything. They're all crazy and they drive me crazy.

We can control our lives by controlling our perceptions.

The man, with his brain, can pierce the intoxicating mirage of things and contemplate a frozen universe in the most perfect indifference to him and his dreams.

Facebook Fan Pages are email newsletters with smaller pictures.

Beggars beg to get money, not to reproach the passerby.

One of the most significant events in our distant past is still perhaps the greatest mystery: the origins of life itself.

I'm not a natural leader. I'm too intellectual; I'm too abstract; I think too much.

Works for me. For the ones we love, today we’re allies. Tomorrow we resume our natural order of mortal enemies. Gentlemen, and I use that term loosely for all of us, have we an accord? (Acheron)