The fundamental condition of childhood is powerlessness.

Oh, that sound? I'm in the hot tub, reading a novel.

Many people, myself among them, feel better at the mere sight of a book.

Every first draft is perfect, because all a first draft has to do is exist.

I suspected that there were things he knew that I had been waiting all my life to learn.

In many ways, being honest about 'Huckleberry Finn' goes right to the heart of whether we can be honest about our heritage and our identity as Americans.

Even if my marriage is falling apart and my children are unhappy, there is still a part of me that says, 'God, this is fascinating!'

Take naps. Often new ideas come together when you are half asleep, but you have to train yourself to remember them.

Candy is my fuel. Ice cream, too.

But what truly horsey girls discover in the end is that boyfriends, husbands, children, and careers are the substitute-for horses

In every society, the artists will be the ones who set themselves up as contrary to whatever the society expects.

We must endure the present circumstances for a far greater future.

When the church begins to entertain the flock and respond to the cult of self—it is diminished to a mere community center.

Cleanliness is very important. If you let kids make a total mess in the kitchen and then leave, you're not really teaching them anything.

Many a housewife staring at the back of her husband's newspaper, or listening to his breathing in bed is lonelier than any spinster in a rented room.

I was never that much a focus of interest in my career. I'm aware of that now, which doesn't give me a lot of pleasure.

Modern societies march towards morality in proportion as they leave religion behind.

Whatever kind of device or barrier or policy to secure the border, that's necessary to secure the border, then do it.

I see films in theaters, and I enjoy films. I enjoy the art of storytelling, and the different ways to tell them.

Words are a distraction to enlightenment. Getting rid of conceptual thinking means enlightenment.

Tenterhooks are the upholstery of the anxious seat.