A novel must show how the world truly is. Somehow, reveals the true source of our actions.

There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart.

My heart is, and always will be, yours.

It isn't what we say or think that defines us, but what we do.

There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature.

The younger brother must help to pay for the pleasures of the elder.

Our scars make us know that our past was for real

None of us want to be in calm waters all our lives.

What dreadful hot weather we have! It keeps one in a continual state of inelegance.

Seldom, very seldom, does complete truth belong to any human disclosure; seldom can it happen that something is not a little disguised, or a little mistaken.

The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.

The spirit and soul are the body and brain, which are destructible-that is precisely why they are so precious.

Which is better: to dare to look directly into the blinding present, no matter how painful, or to await the detachment of hindsight -- which, being less painful, is more objective?

Once you've been overweight you never want to be overweight again, so you keep going, keep going, like for any addiction. Health can be an addiction, it doesn't have to be drugs or alcohol.

A contemplative should pay equal attention to concentration, energetic effort and equanimity, and not exclusively to one of these factors only.

I write novels and other things.

At the end of the day, though, the entire basis for consent laws doesn't make sense. We're not old enough to decide if we don't want a baby, but we are old enough to have one?

The major reason for setting a goal is for what it makes of you to accomplish it. What it makes of you will always be the far greater value than what you get.

I have a pirate fetish-I just always thought eye patches were sexy. If you want to get my attention, wear a pirate outfit.

[Andrew Jackson] was actually 70 years old when he left the White House

Concentrating for four hours will wear you out mentally.