No wonder, he thought, that the panhandle people were a godly lot, for they lived in sudden, violent atmospheres. Weather kept them humble.

You know, one of the tragedies of real life is that there is no background music.

You should write because you love the shape of stories and sentences and the creation of different words on a page. Writing comes from reading, and reading is the finest teacher of how to write.

I wish I knew how to quit you.

Writing comes from reading, and reading is the finest teacher of how to write.

Anyway, there's something wrong with everybody and it's up to you to know what you can handle.

If you get the landscape right, the characters will step out of it, and they'll be in the right place.

We're all strange inside. We learn how to disguise our differences as we grow up.

I think it's important to leave spaces in a story for readers to fill in from their own experience.

Develop craftsmanship through years of wide reading.

What we fear we often rage against.

Love: I guess It is some kind of magic, It has a power to make us better... But there is the thing magic can sometimes be an illusion and nothing else.

I founded this school for the masses.

Maybe Santa Claus is real. Here's the problem: reality.

Yevgeny Yevtushenko: 'You atheist?' "Kingsley Amis: 'Well, yes, but it's more that I hate him.

Dream big and stay true to yourself as you pursue your dreams.

It's surely one of the strange phenomena of this decade that the most thoughtful gift you can bring a date is not flowers, chocolates, or ankle-length pearls, but a note from your doctor.

While the good news of the gospel may not appeal to everyone, the bad news of the gospel still applies to everyone.

I love good comedy. I don't like bad comedy.

Life is a manifestation of unity.

It is wonderful what great strides can be made when there is a resolute purpose behind them.