To persevere is always a reflection of the state of one's inner life, one's philosophy and one's perspective

When it comes time to sit down and write the next book, you're deathly afraid that you're not up to the task. That was certainly the case with me after Snow Falling on Cedars.

The status quo was rote memorization and recitation in classrooms thronged with passive children who were sternly disciplined when they expressed individual needs.

My father is a practicing criminal law attorney in the Seattle area.

At one level you're condemned to the voice you have. But within those confines, you have a certain amount of freedom to range among your possible voices.

There are things in this universe that we cannot control, and then there are the things we can. . . . Let fate, coincidence, and accident conspire; human beings must act on reason.

What some people interpret as brooding melancholy is serenity. I don't feel required to grasp all the time.

accident ruled every corner of the universe except the chambers of the human heart.

There's a certain nostalgia and romance in a place you left.

It's a brooding melancholy that haunts me.

I'm interested in themes that endure from generation to generation.

Morale was deteriorating and it was all Yossarian's fault. The country was in peril

The one thing in me more powerful than a general misanthropy is an inescapable compassion for individuals.

We need never be ashamed of our tears.

The years have simply reconciled us to the fact that we are all here for the transformation.

Only God can move mountains, but faith and prayer can move God

Pitching was about fooling people, manipulating them, making them believe in something that ultimately wasn't there. Great pitching was great lying.

It is the privilege of those who fear love to murder those who do not fear it!

Only by knowledge of that which is not thyself, shall thyself be learned.

Great leaders don’t try to be perfect. They try to be themselves. And that’s what makes them great.

I ignore my fear. When I make decisions, I pretend it doesn't exist.