life is not a race, but a shot on target: what counts is not the saving of time, but the ability to find a centre

Happiness always has an object... Depends on external things. Joy... Has no object. It seizes you for no apparent reason, it's like the sun, its burning is fueled by its own heart.

To make mistakes is natural, but to go to one's grave without having understood them is to make life a pointless exercise.

Love doesn't suit the lazy; sometimes it requires strong, precise actions.

Follow your heart, and listen when it speaks to you.

The love withheld is always the love we long for most.

Unshed tears leave a deposit on your heart. Eventually they form a crust around it and paralyze it, the way mineral deposits paralyze a washing machine.

Fear nothing but your conscience.

Painful experiences are like scars in our minds. Some have healed and been forgotten. Others are there as a reminder of what we have been through…

(One character on another:)"Don't you know that I passionately dote on every chin on his face?

Do the very best you can.

I am Presbyterian and Protestant. I've had great relationships and developed even greater relationships with ministers. We have tremendous support from the clergy.

Writing is not an amusing occupation. It is a combination of ditch-digging, mountain-climbing, treadmill and childbirth.

The Wright brothers' first flight was not reported in a single newspaper because every rookie reporter knew what could and couldn't be done.

To steale the Hog, and give the feet for almes. [To steal the hog, and give the feet to alms.]

Honesty has always been very important to me.

Prisons where people can't even work is the worst punishment you can think of. And I don't think we should put all convicts in such facilities where people are deprived of their freedom.