[W]e are not merely tempered and schooled by failure but compelled, in however subtle a fashion, to become something other than we were.

No new reader, however charitable, could open “Fifty Shades of Grey,” browse a few paragraphs, and reasonably conclude that the author was writing in her first language, or even her fourth.

We happen upon ourselves when nothing much happens to us, and we are transformed in the process...

We are not merely tempered and schooled by failure but compelled, in however subtle a fashion, to become something other than we were.

Still, there remains so much to relish and remember.

I do have one very brutal writing ritual. If I'm working in the morning, I don't allow myself a cup of tea until I've written two paragraphs. It's harsh.

Children, viewed from one angle, are philosophy in motion.

If you're a square peg in a society full of round holes, it's time to change the playing board.

Patience is not waiting

The ones who choose to constantly make excuses and the people who are persistently working on their goals, all have twenty four hours in a day.

Everyone's on the cliff edge of normal. Everyone finds life an utter nightmare sometimes, and there's no 'normal' way of dealing with it... There is no normal, Evelyn.

Poverty is a condition that resides in the heart . . . not in the wallet.

You can never really know the scriptures until you're willing to be changed by them.

The U.S. unemployment rate is the lowest it's been in nearly seven years. The job sector that has seen the most growth is in the field of Republican presidential candidates.

Read somewhat in the English poets every day. You will find them elegant, entertaining and constructive companions through your whole life.

I like the Beatles, of course, but that's when I grew up.

A maid that laughs is half taken.