That's what reading was for my mother, and became for me - a way to escape, a private time machine, a place that began with moral instruction but soon morphed into empathy and imagination.

Can we really be friends with those who don't love the books that we do? Of course we can, but can we really be friends with those who don't love any books? I'm not so sure of that.

I learned that books could be collected, that they were important enough to keep and that a story that seemed to be over could be part of a bigger one.

I realised that reading was the key that opened the door to secret lands, strange places and the worlds behind other people's eyes.

That's what is so precious in reading this way - you can plumb the depths of another's experience while sitting still with a book in your hands.

For 60 years, my country, the United States, pursued stability at the expense of democracy in this region, here in the Middle East, and we achieved neither.

Faith is never blind when others see it in our actions.

Don't ascribe to evil what can be attributed to well-intentioned stupidity.

Lotus Eaters is a movie about people who can't really be alone, but they're always alone, really, even when they're together.

She sits up. I can’t read her expression, but her cheeks look a little pink. “I didn’t think you were going to be here.” “I live here.

When I walk into a screening, I'm nervous in a different way than I am as an actor. But the response is ultimately I know how I feel about it and that's what matters to me the most.

The liberal understanding of 'the separation of church and state' means that as the area of politics expands, the area of private freedom - religious and otherwise - shrinks.

Surrender happens by Grace. All we're doing is cleaning up the room so when Surrender walks in, He can sit down.

Then she'll know I'll want to knock her senseless if she so much as looks at me.

Light has a way of keeping people honest.