She ordered a martini and encouraged me to, but said she couldn't drink it with her medication. She just liked seeing it in front of her, like the old days, all set to do its little magic.

I'm intrigued by how ordinary behavior exists so close beside its opposite.

My parents...were people running from the past, who didn't look back at much if they could help it, and whose whole life always lay somewhere in the offing.

He was like my father. They each wanted me to be their audience, to hear the things they needed to express.

In their faces--plenty of them were handsome, but ruined--I've seen the remnants of who they almost succeeded in being but failed to be, before becoming themselves.

My faith likes mountains just where they are.

Science tells us that love not only diminishes the experience of physical pain but can make us—and our beloveds—healthier.

All my big mistakes are when I try to second-guess or please an audience. My work is always stronger when I get very selfish about it.

We could form a government of national unity fighting corruption. The ordinary Afghan is sick and tired of it, because it's she or he that pays the price.

I totally understand OJ. I get it.

The truth about life was that nothing ever ended until you died, and even then you just left a whole bunch of unresolved narratives behind you.

Life is cut to allow for growth ... one may vigorously put on weight before one fills it out entirely.

Some loves come unbidden like winds from the sea, and others grow from the seeds of friendship.

Prayer is seeing His greatness to the extent we can receive it.

When you put your ideas in the world, then, and only then, do you know if they're real.