She understood children, and knew that they were adults handicapped by a humiliating disguise and had their adult qualities within them.

You must always believe that life is as extraordinary as music says it is.

But shouldn't they still act like children? They aren't normal. They act like--history. Napoleon and Wellington. Caesar and Brutus.

We have all a better guide in ourselves, if we would attend to it, than any other person can be.

It's very hard to write humor.

I am an eternal optimist. Being happy is a choice. And you can make that choice every day, if you want to.

Although every novel is derived directly from another novel, there is really only one novel, the Quixote.

I think it will always be around it just takes one person to make people aware of the blues.

When you're growing up, you play dress-up - it's a game, it's a pastime. And then as you get older, getting ready and looking nice becomes this constant stress. I want to make it fun again.

What good is it to have a belly if there's no fire in it? Wake up, drink your passion, light a match and get to work.

I can no more imagine falling in love with someone who believed that than I can imagine falling in love with someone who believes that blacks shouldn't be able to vote and are inferior to whites.