Writing a story, you understand, is not done by consensus. But we do learn from each other, and we remind ourselves how important this work we're doing is.

I grew up in a house without many books. The books the nuns made us read in school didn't interest me.

In revision, your imagination becomes deeply engaged with your material. It's when you come to know your characters and begin to perceive their motivations and values.

A pure love is a selfless love, but can desire ever be selfless?

The landscape of childhood shapes us as it shapes the characters in our stories. You never forget the sacred places of your childhood.

Drug programs began to turn their attention and money away from prevention and into maintenance. Methadone was cheaper than social workers, I suppose.

A lack of narrative structure, as you know, will cause anxiety.

You lose a wallet or keys or something and you notice in a second, but your life can go missing and you don't even know it.

Every act of loving affirms the goodness of the lover just because he is capable of loving and being loved.

Love is always a surprise and you never get it right.

The purpose of the first draft is not to get it right, but to get it written.

Don’t ever worry what the boys who don’t appreciate originality think of you. They’re fools.

And I'm so thankful that I've been allowed to show another side of Trish.

There's a general intuition around the nonprofit world these days that younger generations are less likely to join. But I have found in my research that that's quite wrong.

I never stop to wonder why I'm not like other people. They mystery to me is why more people aren't like me.

The United Nations continues to sense as the forum where nations whose interests clash may lay their cases before world opinion.

Vulnerable is a catch-all word like "love" and "schizophrenia."

If you diversify, control your risk, and go with the trend, it just has to work.

The term clinical depression finds its way into too many conversations these days. One has a sense that a catastrophe has occurred in the psychic landscape.

Throwing a line out to sea To see if I can catch a dream

Knowledge is gained by learning; trust by doubt; skill by practice; and love by love.