The more I see of the country, the less I feel I know about it. There is a saying that after five years in the north every man is an expert; after ten years, a novice.

Racism is a refuge for the ignorant. It seeks to divide and to destroy. It is the enemy of freedom, and deserves to be met head-on and stamped out.

The nation is bound together by its creative artists and not by parallel lines of rusting steel.

A Canadian is somebody who knows how to make love in a canoe.

I only write books about dead people. They can't sue.

My best advice to writers is get yourself born in an interesting place.

I was hated, you know. I made no secret of the fact that I was an atheist. People told me there are no atheists in fox holes. That's nonsense. [interview promoting Marching as to War (2002)]

I am an atheist, a rationalist and a humanist.

I am fearless because I know the power of my love and beauty of my soul.

Knowing is important, but understanding is everything.

When you travel, appreciate the culture of the people in the land.

I gain strength from postive thought and from the daily conversation with God.

Politics can be likened to driving at night over unfamiliar hills and mountains. Close attention must be paid to what the beam can reach and the next bend.

A guy isn't the only thing that will make me happy. If I never find romance or love, that will be okay. It's what I want, but it doesn't define me.

All this nothing has meant more to me than so many somethings

People rescue each other. They build shelters and community kitchens and ways to deal with lost children and eventually rebuild one way or another.

Time spent in a casino is time given to death, a foretaste of the hour when one's flesh will be diverted to the purposes of the worm and not of the will.

They haven't made love for years but sleep holding hands