When I sit and talk with a person, I'm not always paying attention. I'm looking at the person and saying, 'What is it about his or her life that appeals to me?

Anyone who has problems, or worries, anyone who laughs and cries, anyone who feels can write. It's only talking on paper... talking about the things that matter to us.

I loved teaching. It was my world. I only left because I was overwhelmed with three careers - teaching, writing, and my family.

Revision is the heart of writing. Every page I do is done over seven or eight times.

To me, family is everything. I want children to realize how important their families are and what a support system a family is.

Everything in my life affects my writing. There are no separate parts of my life.

Many times in my life I've been upset about something and said to myself, "Will this matter in two years?" Not even in two months.

I myself was terrified during the Second World War. The war started when I was six, and I was so sure that we were going to be bombed and killed. My imagination is my biggest plus and my worst minus.

I have no special talent, you know. I never took a writing course before I began to write.

Outside of family, writing is essential. To me, it's like breathing.

I cannot outline. I do not know what the next thing is going to happen in the book until it comes out of my fingers.

I've always found that the most beautiful people, truly beautiful inside and out, are those who are quietly unaware of their effect.

The point is ISIL leaders cannot hide. And our next message to them is simple - you are next.

Lessons will repeat to you in various forms until you have learned them. When you have learned them, you can then go on to the next lesson.

Has feminism made us all more conscious? I think it has. Feminist critiques of anthropological masculine bias have been quite important, and they have increased my sensitivity to that kind of issue

Getting out of the way is really important.

Knowing when someone's the real deal or not, but still with putting your guard up and self-protecting, you've got to stay open. It comes back to balance.

You're on stage and because stand-up comedy is one of the few meritocracies in the entertainment industry, there's some kind of - at least for me, there's some kind of idea of control.

Every collectivist assumes a different source for the collective will, according to his own political, religious and national convictions.

When adversity overtakes you, it pays to be thankful it was not worse instead of worrying over your misfortune.

I'm always going forward toward something, and that something is usually an album, because I like to record. I probably like to record more than I like to write.