The movie is more real in so many ways than the life I am leading. No, that’s not true. I just desperately wish this was only a movie.

Books transmit values. They explore our common humanity. What is the message when some children are not represented in those books?

When I began to read, I began to exist

Cutting people out of your life is easy, keeping them in is hard.

We need to tell young people that America was built by men and women of all colors and that the future of this country is dependent on the participation of all of our citizens.

Reading is not optional.

I'll never live to write all the stories I have in my head.

We need to tell kids flat out: reading is not optional.

Think about all the tomorrows of your life.

We all know we should eat right and we should exercise, but reading is treated as if it's this wonderful adjunct.

It's a hard life sometimes and the biggest temptation is to let how hard it is be an excuse to weaken

For too long, unfunded federal mandates have drained the budgets of states and communities. The strength and vitality of our communities must be restored.

There were times after my marriage ended where, you know, I really felt like I was at the bottom of a mountain, there was a great big, fog up there, and I'm never going to cross to the other side.

It is always dishonest for a reviewer to review the author instead of the author's book.

Be purposeful. Be patient, and be active!

Prayer should be short, without giving God Almighty reasons why he should grant this, or that; he knows best what is good for us.

Communication is the universal solvent.

Every revolution by force only puts more violent means of enslavement into the hands of the persons in power.

Well, well, the world must turn upon its axis, And all mankind turn with it, heads or tails, And live and die, make love and pay our taxes, And as the veering winds shift, shift our sails.

Lives with no more sense of spiritual meaning than that provided by shopping malls, ordinary television, and stagnant workplaces are barren lives indeed. Spirituality enriches culture.

It has often been said that [...] the Japanese [are] geniuses at taking foreign ideas and adding a unique finishing touch.