The body needs food, warmth and water, but your heart needs more.

The feat of surviving is directly related to the capacity of the survivor.

I was haunted by a bear attack that happened in Algonquin Park in 1991. The problem was that I dont believe in ghosts, so that ruled out an exorcism. My other choice was to start writing.

I would get a lot of writing done if I lived in isolation in a cave under a swamp.

A young woman hiking alone in the mountains sounds dangerous. In the pre-cell phone era maybe it was, but Ill stop short of calling it foolish.

How do you solve a mystery? How do you write a book? The techniques for starting both are surprisingly similar. Find an intriguing question and, pen and dagger tucked under cloak, search for clues.

Parents spend a lot of time talking over kids. My son went through a vocabulary burst as I was writing The Bear. I thought, What if I just stopped and listened?

I love the Internet, and I love wasting time on the Internet - even though it sometimes ends up being not being a waste of time.

I like situations that push a character to the edge.

They listened more than they talked, but that was the way of wise men and women.

'The Hobbit' was one of the first biggish books I ever read. I remember vividly the 'riddles in the dark' passage, and it meant a lot to me to finally get to play it after all these years.

Every man and woman is born into the world to do something unique and something distinctive and if he or she does not do it, it will never be done.

All stereotypes turn out to be true. This is a horrifying thing about life. All those things you fought against as a youth: you begin to realize they're stereotypes because they're true.

Everyone should learn a manual trade: It's never too late to become an honest person.

The well-adjusted make poor prophets.

To convince someone of the truth, it is not enough to state it, but rather one must find the path from error to truth.

Nothing is more rewarding than to take a song, create it out of thin air and then watch it affect people.

I have no faith at all in believers, because they are so far from the truths! Have respect only to those who are close to the truths!

For as to the strength of body, the weakest has strength enough to kill the strongest, either by secret machination or by confederacy with others that are in the same danger with himself