Nothing on earth in fiction is less interesting than characters under the influence of alcohol.

Our salvation never comes in the form we would have chosen.

Sometimes, in that darkness, there is a single act of love, some selfless gesture, an aspiration, and we see that it's not been all waste, all hopeless, and we can ... well ... go on.

Uninvited criticism is insult.

A short story is a writer's way of thinking through experience... Journalism aims at accuracy, but fiction's aim is truth. The writer distorts reality in the interest of a larger truth.

Obscenities are too often used for shock value, as a kind of shorthand for real expression of emotion. You've got to scale down your monstrosities. A scream is not a discovery.

Let good people sin. Give virtue to rotters.

Plot does not simply move with time, but spreads out conceptually in metaphorical space.

Using language like jungle growth isn't the solution to telling a story.

There's something about a parenthesis in fiction that puts one off, saying, "It's me, moi, jumping in now."

What a strange thing it is to recognize a sound like the shriek of a wounded animal, when you've never heard the shriek of a wounded animal.

I don't believe there is a God", I said fiercely, "and if there is, He's not the merciful being He's always depicted, or He wouldn't be always torturing me for His own amusement.

Jesus Christ said 'by their fruits ye shall know them, ' not by their disclaimers.

They should love you, just as you are. Parents should love their kids, right?" "You'd think so.

Women are wired to take on others’ needs. Own your role in stress, establishing boundaries on what you can reasonably accomplish within your current bandwidth and reduce your stress load.

Once you're a mom, always a mom. It's like riding a bike, you never forget.

A mother is always the beggining. She is how things begin.

The Sun visits cesspools without being defiled.

I wanted above all else not to be like my mum.

I've always been a deep sleeper; because I come from such a large family - there are 10 kids - I could sleep through anything.

Hundreds of social networks and websites such as Facebook and Twitter are trying to weaken people's morale and decrease their participation in the elections.