The world that is in me is the only world I have by which to grasp the world outside and as I write fiction, it is the chart by which I must steer.

The name we give to something shapes our attitude toward it.

To fear is one thing. To let fear grab you by the tail and swing you around is another.

It is not enough to simply teach children to read; we have to give them something worth reading.

Peace is not won by those who fiercely guard their differences, but by those who with open minds and hearts seek out connections.

I love revision. Where else can spilled milk be turned into ice cream?

As much pleasure as young people get from Twittering and texting, there is no way these activities will nourish their minds and spirits the way literature can.

Reading can be a road to freedom or a key to a secret garden, which, if tended, will transform all of life.

As I look back on what I have written, I can see that the very persons who have taken away my time are those who have given me something to say.

Some folks are natural born kickers. They can always find a way to turn disaster into butter.

I love to read. But I loved to read a lot longer than I started to love writing.

You are a divine being. You matter, you count. You come from realms of unimaginable power and light, and you will return to those realms.

Our civilization is flinging itself to pieces. Stand back from the centrifuge.

Strength does not make one capable of rule; it makes one capable of service.

The lot of man-to suffer and die.

When one has been threatened with a great injustice, one accepts a smaller as a favour.

Life is not a problem to be solved but a mystery to be lived. Follow the path that is no path, follow your bliss.

All mystics speak the same language, for they come from the same country.

Even as a baby I quickly learned to crawl out of my crib. ... They'd put up barriers but I learned how to go over them.

I often thought that if there had been a good rap group around in those days, I might have chosen a career in music instead of politics.

Everybody in their own imagination decides what scary is.