There are books that a writer undertakes because she wants to go on a journey, and there are journeys a writer undertakes because she wants to write a book.

I try to remember that the job - as well as the plight, and the unexpected joy - of the artist is to embrace uncertainty, to be sharpened and honed by it.

It is in the thousands of days of trying, failing, sitting, thinking, resisting, dreaming, raveling, unraveling that we are at our most engaged, alert, and alive.

Writing has been my window-flung wide open to this magnificent, chaotic existence-my way of interpreting everything within my grasp.

Everything you need to know about life can be learned from a genuine and ongoing attempt to write

If I dismiss the ordinary—waiting for the special, the extreme, the extraordinary to happen - I may just miss my life.

I do whatever is necessary in order to maintain the equanimity we all need to withstand the disappointment and rejection that are the lot of every writer, no matter where we are in our careers.

The only graceful thing to do is recognize and embrace what is actually happening, rather than fight against it.

My desk is covered with talismans: pieces of rose quartz, wishing stones from a favorite beach.

How do we live the writer's life? There's only one simple answer: 'we write.'

If you are a writer or any kind of artist, if you change something as fundamental as where you live - the way you live - then I think you change the very instrument that is trying to make the art

Sure, scars can be painfull to look at, reminding you where you've been, but they also remind you of how far you've come.

The fruits of your labors may be reaped two generations from now. Trust, even when you don't see the results.

I am spending delightful afternoons in my garden, watching everything living around me. As I grow older, I feel everything departing, and I love everything with more passion.

It is painful to relive things that have caused emotional crises or whatever and find ways to express that musically.

The whole sexiness thing-I don't know if I'm comfortable with that. But it has helped the sport grow. I think it changes how people see women's athletics.

people in great trouble don't change to other people. They only change to themselves.

The melody is French. But that's the end of the record. I named it "Jean Pierre Then There Were None," you know, because of the big explosion. You'll like it. It's a nice album.

Today's interpretations of religion are often backward and contradict the needs of civilization.

It would be nice to have someone to go back to, a girl to call at the end of the night after a long day.

There is no effect more disproportionate to its cause than the happiness bestowed by a small compliment.