What is taken away is greater than the sum of what was there. This may not be mathematically possible; but it is emotionally possible.

A pier is a disappointed bridge; yet stare at it for long enough and you can dream it to the other side of the Channel.

Books say: She did this because. Life says: She did this. Books are where things are explained to you; life is where things aren't. I'm not surprised some people prefer books.

The greatest patriotism is to tell your country when it is behaving dishonorably, foolishly, viciously.

The writer must be universal in sympathy and an outcast by nature: only then can he see clearly.

The land of embarrassment and breakfast.

When you read a great book, you don't escape from life, you plunge deeper into it.

History is that certainty produced at the point where the imperfections of memory meet the inadequacies of documentation.

What is the easiest, the most comfortable thing for a writer to do? To congratulate the society in which he lives: to admire its biceps, applaud its progress, tease it endearingly about its follies.

Some of the freckles I once loved are now closer to liver spots. But it’s still the eyes we look at, isn’t it? That’s where we found the other person, and find them still.

The more you learn, the less you fear. "Learn" not in the sense of academic study, but in the practical understanding of life.

There are many things in science that were developed because it was possible rather than desirable. Humanity's curiosity will almost certainly be its downfall.

Love is faith in action." ~R. Alan Woods [2006]

I have time to write 1-2 novels per year, and get roughly novel-sized ideas every month. I have to perform triage on my own writing impulses.

Comedy is not my world. It's difficult for me, but sometimes you just have to go with it and have a good time.

Leadership is a series of behaviors rather than a role for heroes.

I wish I could say I had any idea what I was doing when I designed characters. I just take things I like and make my version of it.

It would be pretty shabby to appear flippant around a documentary that's about how much I love my fans.

Harriet Tubman was an astronaut, traversing the south to the north by navigating the stars.

Because the filming process was so organic and there was no script, the film [Dream of Life] was literally telling us what it wanted to be in the editing room.