When he thought of his history, what resonated with him now was not all that he had suffered but the divine love that he believed had intervened to save him.

This self-respect and sense of self-worth, the innermost armament of the soul, lies at the heart of humanness; to be deprived of it is to be dehumanized, to be cleaved from, and cast below, mankind.

People think I must have been turning cartwheels on the night I sealed the movie deal - which was only two days after sealing the book deal - but I was really quite terrified.

I think authors can get into trouble viewing the subject matter as their turf

It's easy to talk to a horse if you understand his language. Horses stay the same from the day they are born until the day they die. They are only changed by the way people treat them.

The paradox of vengefulness is that it makes men dependent upon those who have harmed them, believing that their release from pain will come only when their tormentors suffer.

For me, being a writer was never a choice. I was born one. All through my childhood I wrote short stories and stuffed them in drawers. I wrote on everything. I didn't do my homework so I could write

Without dignity, identity is erased. In its absence, men are defined not by themselves, but by their captors and the circumstances in which they are forced to live.

Without dignity, identity is erased.

I just thought I was empty and now I'm being filled...and I just wanted to keep being filled.

His books were the closest thing he had to furniture and he lived in them the way other men live in easy chairs.

Your mind is like a tunnel that has no end, and a baloon, that even too much air cannot burst.

Media over here, coming to ya like a world premiere. Trench coat and my underwear, let's go with this freak show.

Cosmology is serious business and in our hearts we are nothing if not cosmologists, hanging in a cold cage sifting the ruthless jewels of existence.

I may not be the most likable person in the world, but I try not to upset people.

Poverty is a divine stepmother who does for youths what their own mothers were unable to do. It introduces them to frugality, to the world and to life.

I've never disclosed for whom I'm voting.

The former oppressors do not feel liberated. On the contrary, they genuinely consider themselves to be oppressed.

Do not train children to learning by force and harshness, but direct them to it by what amuses their minds.

When the slugs penetrate, you feel a burning sensation, Gettin closer to God in a tight situation.