Look, don't just stare at the pages, " I used to tell my students. "Become the characters. Live inside the book.

The seeker embarks on a journey to find what he wants and discovers, along the way, what he needs.

A woman who surrenders her freedom need not surrender her dignity.

So many bad things have happened to them that they can't trust the good things. They have to shove them away before someone can get it back.

Childbirth is normal until proven otherwise.

Sometimes the memory of someone is better than the reality of them.

I should still be in jail.

I would favor a law that no one could ever buy a gun.

I often buy myself presents. Sometimes I will spend $100,000 in one day in a posh boutique.

When young we are faithful to individuals, when older we grow loyal to situations and to types.

Perhaps it is God's will to lead the people of South Africa through defeat and humiliation to a better future and a brighter day.

Everything comes in time to him who knows how to wait. There is nothing stronger than those two: patience and time, they will do it all.

Everything, including that which happens in our brains, depends on these and only on these: A set of fixed, deterministic laws.

It's a fairly accurate portrait of me at eighteen, minus a few quirks like reckless driving and eating binges. It's accurate but it isn't profound.