It seems to me that good novels celebrate the mystery in ordinary life, and summing it all up in psychological terms strips the mystery away

Ever consider what pets must think of us? I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul - chicken, pork, half a cow. They must think we're the greatest hunters on earth!

I read so I can live more than one life in more than one place.

But what I hope for from a book - either one that I write or one that I read - is transparency. I want the story to shine through. I don't want to think of the writer.

It seems to me that since I've had children, I've grown richer and deeper. They may have slowed down my writing for a while, but when I did write, I had more of a self to speak from.

It is not how much you love someone, but who you are when you are with him.

The Amateur Marriage grew out of the reflection that of all the opportunities to show differences in character, surely an unhappy marriage must be the richest.

It is very difficult to live among people you love and hold back from offering them advice.

Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person.

People always call it luck when you've acted more sensibly than they have.

The hardest novel to write was Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant.

A good marriage is where both people feel like they're getting the better end of the deal.

Freedom is hammered out on the anvil of discussion, dissent, and debate.

Everyone thinks I'm a wimp and even my own band hates me. Oh, well. I guess I'll just flip 'em the bird!

I did have a big following in the upper New York area. I was at the New York State Fair a few times over the years. I have areas that I say are my areas.

I'm not the healthiest eater, but I try to watch what I eat during the week. I kind of splurge on the weekends and eat french fries and pizza.

All I knew was, even if she wasn't mine, I wanted to leave her with a smile.

Stop judging your life only by the failures.

We ought to be people of compassion. And being people of compassion means we deny ourselves, and our self centeredness.

Who is that blond child laughing as he runs after his colored marbles? [my marbles] It's me And who is the poet writing this poem? That blond child who laughed as he ran after his colored marbles

I'm a conscious parent when I believe... a parent's presence in their child's life is of paramount value and provides the foundation for their sense of worth.