Books are many things: lullabies for the weary, ointment for the wounded, armour for the fearful and nests for those in need of a home.

Sometimes words come out of me and I don't know where they come from or why. They're like falling stars tumbling through the universe; bright, burning things that can't be stopped.

You might think what I tell you next is all a dream, or that I've imagined it. I can't help it if that's what you think, but I swear it's true. Sometimes the truest things are the hardest to believe.

Sometimes I can see colour without opening my eyes. I saw that Billy's heart was no colour and every colour. Like water or diamonds or crystals, it's pure and reflects the light.

I didn't know what to say when someone's given you a small free kiss in the dark.

Running away was easy; not knowing what to do next was the hard part.

When the doors closed behind me I felt like a bird had got inside my chest and was beating its wings trying to get loose, and it wasn't leaving much room for me to breathe.

I wasn't going to let things happen to me any more. I was going to make them happen.

Then I kissed Max because I loved him, and everyone I had ever loved before had gone away and I had never kissed them goodbye

I don't make promises in case I can't keep them. Sometimes you can't help it; things stop you.

I saw pearls in her mouth and the velvet cushion of her tongue and I heard the magic words come out of her.

What if deep down inside you...you knew you were more amazing and magnificent than you thought you were?

And they held on tight to that beautiful silent moment before words transported them to the realm of the ordinary, to the realm of the inarticulate and mundane.

Philosophy's greatest task is to enlarge our sense of possibility.

I performed at Mom and Dad's party when I was four. Oh my gosh, I was singing a Madonna song, and I peed myself!

There is nothing but God.

Being a singer now I have to get all fussy... I must have my ginger and lemon and all that.

Children are one of the greatest lessons in happiness, constantly challenging us to enjoy the moment, as the next one will not be the same.

I enjoyed acting and marveled that one could get paid for doing it.

May I make a suggestion, hoping it is not an impertinence? Write it down: write down what you feel. It is sometimes a wonderful help in misery.

99% of fund managers demonstrate no evidence of skill whatsoever.