It's not good to live so much inside oneself. It's a self-imposed exile, really. It makes you different.

I'm like the trunk of a cactus... I take in a dose of culture and time with friends, then I retreat and go live on it for awhile until I get thirsty again.

It has always been on the written page that the world has come into focus for me.

I have been standing on the side of life, watching it float by. I want to swim in the river. I want to feel the current. -Loving Frank

What did a person need to survive? Food. Water. Shelter. Warmth in cold weather. And something else... books.

It's wonderful to feel desired. There's a sense of power in it, really.

I always use primary sources, in addition to reading biographies and other materials.

In the end, what really matters? Only kindness. Only making somebody a little happier for your presence.

Tell her happiness is just practice, " he said. "If only she acted happy, she would be happy.

As he watches the sun rise, what grieves him is that he failed her. He thinks of the terror she felt. They tell him it was quick, as if that will somehow confine the horror.

She got up from the bed, knelt beside the bed, and put her forehead down on the covers. She was not practiced at prayer anymore. The only word that came to mind was "please".

When the lyrical muse sings the creative pen dances.

I hope that I capture something in my work that is about the elusive, the magical and powerful and the transformative. The writing in itself is transformative for me.

It is important to be aware, who you are now than who you are going to be.?

I will either find a way, or make one.

The mass of the rich and the poor are differentiated by their incomes and nothing else, and the average millionaire is only the average dishwasher dressed in a new suit.

There is no work, however vile or sordid, that does not glisten before God.

You never have to drag mercy out of Christ, as money from a miser.

I count my blessings every single day that I am an American.

I was in love, and the feeling was even more wonderful than I ever imagined it could be.

Now, two things happen. One is, people know people, whether that's on Facebook or Twitter. They feel closer to the event. Secondly, people see other people doing something about it.