There was a positive side to not trying at something: you could always pretend that your life would have been different if you had.

What I've come to learn is that the world is never saved in grand messianic gestures, but in the simple accumulation of gentle, soft, almost invisible acts of compassion.

You know, you can steel your heart against any kind of trouble, any kind of horror. But the simple act of kindness from a complete stranger will unstitch you.

In this time of the Internet and nonfiction, to be on an actual bookshelf in an actual bookstore is exciting in itself.

What we know about who we are comes from stories. It's the agents of our imagination who really shape who we are.

The privilege of being a writer is that you have this opportunity to slow down and to consider things.

People think that writing is writing, but actually writing is editing. Otherwise, you're just taking notes

My friend Ronald Gottesman says...that the cause of all our trouble is the belief in an essential, pure identity: religious, ethnic, historical, ideological.

You can count on Scandinavian literature for a certain kind of darkness, a modern mythic style.

Men do communicate, often very directly, but women sometimes cannot accept how simple what we have to say is. We seldom play games--we aren't that sophisticated.

Before you speak, my friend, remember, a spiritual man contain his anger. Angry words are like slap in de face.

Had I faced all the facts It seemed like I had but actually you never know just by remembering how many there were to have faced.

I remember my mean mouth, I remember how wise I thought I was. But I was not wise then. Now I am wise.

Change means the unknown.

I am not one of the new media experts working all the time with my computers and the PowerPoints and things of that sort.

I'm the pink sheep in the family.

Become a creative thinking detective! Ask probing questions. There is no such thing as a wasted question.

I am rough around the edges, and I am not a polished girl.

To me, that's the key thing, the pursuit of happiness. That's the basic, ultimate freedom.

It's almost impossible to read a fine thing without wanting to do a fine thing.

Don't wait till you die to go to heaven.