Pulling at the hem of my emotion was the creeping sense that it might well take until 2036 for this child in my arms to feel a fraction of what I already felt for her.

And it occurs to me that maybe the reason my mother was so exhausted all the time wasn’t because she was doing so much but because she was feeling so much.

The mother is the most essential piece on the board, the one you must protect. Only she has the range. Only she can move in multiple directions. Once she's gone, it's a whole different game.

At first parenthood was as I had expected, exhausting, sometimes heinous, and occasionally divine. I held my children close enough to feel them breathe, laugh, swallow.

It's easy to love kids who make you feel competent.

Pel-i-cans, their beaks hold more than their bellies can.

The primary cause of disorder in ourselves is the seeking of reality promised by another.

I'm one of those people who really wants to do everything. And if I had enough time, I really would.

I am a mother and I know the feeling of having a baby come out of my gut. I have a baby and then you send him off to war. No wonder the kids rebel and take pot.

If we fail to forgive, we’re rejecting our own faith.

I took pleasure when I could. I acted clearly and morally and without regret. I'm very lucky.

I do get a lot of requests for specific things.

Don't put too much pressure on Jack Wilshere... in years to come I think he will be an Arsenal great like Liam Brady

It's actually very difficult to make something both simple and good.

The mark which has dominated all my work is this longing for life, this sense of exclusion, which doesn't lessen but augments this love of life.

My one fear is failure and that's one fear I have to face all the time. Yes, it's uncomfortable to be scared but I'm finally comfortable being uncomfortable.