And the worst thing was, there were no mirrors out there in the wild, so the princess was left wondering whether she in fact was still beautiful... or if the fall had changed the story completely.

At least one thing was consistent about her life: It just kept on getting more complicated.

With everything so perfect, reality seemed somehow fragile, as if the slightest interruption could imperil her pretty future... all of it felt as tenuous as a soap bubble, shivering and empty.

Left alone, human beings are a plague. They multiply relentlessly, consuming every resource, destroying everything they touch.

...humanity is a disease, a cancer on the body of the world.

A milli-Helen is enough beauty to launch exactly one ship

But when she finally got the wings to fly she realized she had nowhere else to go to...

But human nature cannot be content on a diet of honey and if there is nothing in one's life that requires pity, one must invent it; for to go through life unpitied would be an unthinkable loss.

Not a hundredth part of the thoughts in my head have ever been or ever will be spoken or written — as long as I keep my senses, at least.

Britain, relative to the U.S., is a highly secular society. Philanthropy alone cannot fill the gap left by government cutbacks. And the sources of altruism go deep into our evolutionary past.

There is no remedy, but you must either turn or burn.

I hope there are some audiophiles still out there.

There are so many needs in the world, and our hearts cannot carry them all. You must walk to the priorities God has set before you.

First ladies throughout our history have been expected to be adoring wives and perfect mothers.

Every other enjoyment malice may destroy; every other panegyric envy may withhold; but no human power can deprive the boaster of his own encomiums.

If it's a principle, it's a winner. If it's a tactic, it's a loser.