When a scientist's son or daughter becomes a scientist they'll say "Wonderful! Wonderful!" So, why, in the name of God, would a mother be jealous to see her daughter become a successful writer?

If you want to be happy for life, love what you do.

The truth is I hate cocktail parties when the only person I know is my supposed date, and he abandons me the minute we come in the door.

When someone is mean to me, I just make them a victim in my next book.

The flame of inspiration needs to be encouraged. Put a glass around that small candle and protect it from discouragement or ridicule.

Writing is storytelling. No matter how you slice it, you're saying, 'Once upon a time.' That's what writing is all about.

Happines is like mercury. Hard to hold, and when we drop it, it shatters into a million pieces. Maybe the bravest of all are those who have the courage to reach for it again.

live your life as if you may lose everything.

Approach your lives as if they were novels, with their own heroes, villains, red herrings, and triumphs.

The first four months of writing the book, my mental image is scratching with my hands through granite. My other image is pushing a train up the mountain, and it's icy, and I'm in bare feet.

A library is a path to the future--find yours there.

Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.

The bee and the serpent often sip from the selfsame flower.

As a goalkeeper you need to be good at organising the people in front of you and motivating them. You need to see what's going on and react to the threats. Just like a good manager in business.

No longer shall I paint interiors with men reading and women knitting. I will paint living people who breathe and feel and suffer and love.

Privacy isn't dead, although it is fashionable for digerati to say so.

Well now everything dies baby that's a fact But maybe everything that dies someday comes back.

The scripture that God used to save me was Isaiah 7.14, which today is still my favourite verse in the Bible.

Of course I’ve gone mad with power! Have you ever tried going mad without power? It’s boring and no one listens to you! — Russ Cargill

Private student loans should be avoided at all costs.

Our most noted satirists are true columnists and their opinions can be worth more than any well-documented exposé.