Stay alert. The big moral crossroads in your life may not come labeled as such.

I tend to foster drama via bleakness. If I want the reader to feel sympathy for a character, I cleave the character in half, on his birthday. And then it starts raining. And he's made of sugar.

What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness.

What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness. Those moments when another human being was there, in front of me, suffering, and I responded . . . sensibly. Reservedly. Mildly.

Do those things that incline you toward the big questions, and avoid the things that would reduce you and make you trivial.

Developing our sympathetic compassion is not only possible but the only reason for us to be here on earth.

According to me, your life is going to be a gradual process of becoming kinder and more loving. Hurry up. Speed it along. Start right now.

It's a big world, and I really like it.

Character is that sum total of moments we can't explain.

The generalizing writer is like the passionate drunk, stumbling into your house mumbling: I know I'm not being clear, exactly, but don't you kind of feel what I'm feeling?

Kindness, it turns out, is hard - it starts out all rainbows and puppy dogs, and expands to include . . . well, EVERYTHING.

Never leap into battle, when you may come quietly to victory at a walk.

The hardest situation is when the individuals desperate “to cut off your wings” are your closest family members whom you can’t escape dealing with.

Where you used to be, there is a hole in the world, which I find myself constantly walking around in the daytime, and falling in at night. I miss you like hell.

At home I am a nice guy but I don't want the world to know. Humble people I've found don't go very far.

I think you should try... not to try to be better than everyone around you, but try to be better than yourself everyday.

You find true joy and happiness in life when you give and give and go on giving and never count the cost.

Oh, there you are, Albus,' he said. 'You've been a very long time. Upset stomach?' 'No, I was merely reading the Muggle magazines,' said Dumbledore. 'I do love knitting patterns.

I think J.D. Salinger is correct in granting no interviews, and in making no speeches

Life begins to happen. My hoppped up husband drops his home disputes, and hits the streets to cruise for prostitutes

I see the horizon. A light blue, a beautiful band. This is the Earth. How beautiful it is! All goes well.