There is no downside to winning. It feels forever fabulous.

Without music, life is a journey through a desert.

It's impossible to explain to a Yankee what 'tacky' is. They simply have no word for it up north, but my God, do they ever need one.

I was born and raised on a Carolina sea island and I carried the sunshine of the low-country, inked in dark gold, on my back and shoulders.

I’ve never had anyone’s approval, so I’ve learned to live without it.

The most powerful words in English are, 'Tell me a story.'

Here is all I ask of a book- give me everything. Everything, and don't leave out a single word.

I stood face to face with the moon and the ocean and the future that spread out with all its bewildering immensity before me.

Good writing ... involves the agony of turning profoundly difficult thoughts into lucid form, then forcing them into the tight-fitting uniform of language, making them visible and clear.

There is no teacher more discriminating or transforming than loss.

The great teachers fill you up with hope and shower you with a thousand reasons to embrace all aspects of life.

Friendship isn't a science mudboy. Just do what you think is right.

Get up, and wipe your lip, Camille. It seems you are bleeding.

If we insist on being as sure as is conceivable ... we must be content to creep along the ground and can never soar.

A good, stinky French cheese or a good Stilton. These are things I really, really love. Dessert I can obviously live without.

When you ask one friend to dine, Give him your best wine! When you ask two, The second best will do!

The French cook; we open tins.

There is something, however humble, which can properly be called skill among those who recognise themselves as economists.

Like a fragrance to a flower, true happiness is an expression of your unconditional self...the real you.

Winning a gold medal is not easy but I believed in myself, especially over the last four years.

Doctor, I can't pronounce my F's, T's and H's.” “Well you can't say fairer than that then