The real worth of a person came from how he acted during the bad times. (John Fiske)

In every thriller written about Washington, particularly after 9/11, there are good guys and there are bad guys, and there's no gray area at all.

Why can't people just sit and read books and be nice to each other?

I'm scattered, and then that last hundred pages, bam, I'm a laser.

But if I worried too much about publishers' expectations, I'd probably paralyze myself and not be able to write anything.

It's not the beginning or the destination that counts. It's the ride in between.

Libraries rock! Not a sermon, just a fact. As a kid I was a library rat and books changed my life. They can change yours.

Today might not be so good. But tomorrow, you got another chance to get it right.

Fiction is sort of a way to set the record straight, and let people at least believe that justice can be achieved and the right outcomes can occur.

Two people can care for each other but not want the same things.

When a poor man gives something, that is a sacrifice indeed. When a rich man gives something, it hardly rises to the same level.

Black and white, severally incomplete and at the same time completely several.

Goodbye, Hari, my love. Remember always--all you did for me.”            -I did nothing for you.”            -You loved me and your love made me--human.

Flattery is all right - if you don't inhale.

Wanting to leave is enough.

Get to work because Mother Earth needs you right now.

Elvis saved my life when I was 13 or 14. He saved all our lives.

I'm not a big believer in vitamins and all that stuff.

I would not have married Dan Quayle had I not thought he was an equal to me.

I don't write for any particular kind of person.

It is your differences that make you glorious.