All the intelligence and talent in the world can't make a singer. The voice is a wild thing. It can't be bred in captivity. It is a sport, like the silver fox. It happens.

There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm.

Success is never so interesting as struggle

Of all the bewildering things about a new country, the absence of human landmarks is one of the most depressing and disheartening.

The sky was a midnight-blue, like warm, deep, blue water, and the moon seemed to lie on it like a water-lily, floating forward with an invisible current.

The fact that I was a girl never damaged my ambitions to be a pope or an emperor.

It takes a great deal of experience to become natural.

Winter lies too long in country towns; hangs on until it is stale and shabby, old and sullen.

Elsewhere the sky is the roof of the world; but here the earth was the floor of the sky.

The stupid believe that to be truthful is easy; only the artist, the great artist, knows how difficult it is.

The end is nothing; the road is all.

Trust is that rare and priceless treasure that wins us the affection of our heavenly Father.

The idea that you can ask one question and it makes the point - well, that wasn't how psychology was done at the time.

Writing doesn't come easily to me. It gets more and more difficult.

I didn't tell him that what I was most scared of, most haunted by, was something I didn't understand and could never run away from. It was myself.

After so many deaths I live and write.

Hung verdict would have meant anger against previous govt; Clear verdict to BJP shows people voted for hope and aspiration.

If you're a smart writer, you listen.

Sometimes, the best answer is a more interesting question.

I learned that you have to evaluate the effects of public policy as opposed to intentions.