One cannot always marry the person one loves.

Love - true love - is a precious thing. It is painful, uncomfortable, makes fools of us all, but it is what breathes meaning and color and purpose into our lives.

We are who we are, be­cause of those we choose to love and be­cause of those who love us.

I am not a fan of historical fiction that is sloppy in its research or is dishonest about the real history.

Free and fair access to books - to reading - is a right and one we should fight for.

The dead leave their shadows, an echo of the space within which once they lived. They haunt us, never fading or growing older as we do. The loss we grieve is not just their futures but our own.

For when all else is done, on­ly words re­main. Words en­dure.

What we leave behind in this life is the memory of who we were and what we did. An imprint, no more.

Pas a pas, se va luenh. Step by step, we make our way.

There comes always a moment when the desire to act, however ill the cause, is stronger than the wish to listen.

Actually, I can write anywhere - airport lounges, in bed, on a rattling train going north.

Love and accept everyone for who they are, for where they are in life. That is compassion.

Somehow, the days of summer with their glimmering enchantment of dancing ladybugs and sailing clouds had faded into grey. Maddie’s heart had somehow faded with it.

One of the things I find most exciting is talking with people who are working with my work. Who are using it in some way with their life to address everyday politics of meaning.

If I can make an impact, I want to help some kids and bridge the gap between soccer and celebrity in America.

Hurt that's not supposed to show, and tears that fall when no one knows.

You'll note that politicians no longer spend money, they invest it. Don't worry about paying more to the [IRS]. You aren't being taxed; you're taking a plunge on a fly-by-night stock issue.

People who don't know me sometimes call me 'Mademoiselle.'

If tempted by something that feels 'altruistic,' examine your motives and root out that self-deception. Then, if you still want to do it, wallow in it!

I class myself as a manual laborer.

The bottom line of Hollywood is money.