language is magical - it's a form of conjuring. If you do it convincingly, readers will follow you.

Sometimes when she told stories about the past her eyes would get teary from all the memories she had, but they weren't tears. She wasn't crying. They were just the memories, leaking out.

I have a pretty good memory, but memories are time beings, too, like cherry blossoms or ginkgo leaves; for a while they are beautiful, and then they fade and die.

Life is fleeting. Don't waste a single moment of your precious life. Wake up now! And now! And now!

The past is weird. I mean, does it really exist ? It feels like it exists, but where is it ? And if it did exists, but doesn’t now, then where did it go ?

There are many answers, none of them right, but some of them most definitely wrong.

But in the time it takes to say now, now is already over. It's already then.

You never know who it's going to be, or what they'll bring, but whatever it is, it's always exactly what is needed.

The wondrous thing about nature, her gift to us, is her wanton promiscuity. She reproduces herself with abandon, with teeming infinite generosity.

Everything in the universe is constantly changing, and nothing stays the same, and we must understand how quickly time flows by if we are to wake up and truly live our lives.

When I start writing novels, I go into them with a spirit of inquiry, rather than to substantiate prejudices I had in the beginning. If you don't do that, you can't write good characters.

The young need discipline and a full bookcase.

Mastering my mind one thought at a time.

Turn and face the Light, and all you see is Brightness. Turn and face Shadow, and all of Life will appear before you.

Don’t stop searching for opportunities until opportunities find you.

A writer is rarely so well inspired as when he talks about himself.

In order to win a man to your cause, you must first reach his heart, the great high road to his reason.

It was very important to establish a sound, so that people heard a record on the radio and knew immediately that it was you.

The sensual experiences in life are not to be avoided. This is the philosophy of Tantric Buddhism - nor are they particularly to be sought after.

The great secret of good management is to be more alert to prevent a man's going wrong than eager to punish him for it.

Here Spring just grows and greens and warms, spreading life, wrapping us in her arms, until suddenly we realize that she's not a girl anymore. She's a woman. A woman named Summer.