Bullies are just frightened people.

I suspect the most we can hope for, and it's no small hope, is that we never give up, that we never stop giving ourselves permission to try to love and receive love.

Traits don't change, states of mind do.

I actually see myself in all my characters. In order to imagine what it feels like to be another person I have to use my own experiences and responses to the world.

The facts didn't matter. Their stories mattered, and each of their stories belonged to each of them alone.

Had they known at these moments to be quietly joyful? Most likely not. People mostly did not know enough when they were living life that they were living it.

You surely know that in the course of a long marriage it is not unusual for a husband or a wife to develop a crush on someone else.

I'm so interested in the fact that we really don't know anybody. We think we know the people close to us, but we don't, we really don't.

In a way, I'm very interested in writing about Maine, because I think Maine represents its own kind of history. It's the oldest state, and it's the whitest state.

People like to think the younger generation's job is to steer the world to hell. But it's never true, is it? They're hopeful and good - and that's how it should be.

Or maybe, he thought, returning to the boxes, it was part of being Catholic--you were made to feel guilty about everything

Life is spiritual!

Our doctor would never really operate unless it was necessary. He was just that way. If he didn't need the money he wouldn't lay a hand on you.

Happiness comes from the full understanding of your own being.

The only queen I ever dressed was Eva Perón.

Peace of mind is the basis of a healthy body and a healthy mind; so peace of mind, a calm mind, is very, very important.

Beginning is not only a kind of action. It is also a frame of mind, a kind of work, an attitude, a consciousness.

But the eighteenth century, on the whole, loathed melancholy.

I don't buy a lot of things. I like to create things. I've been lucky enough to be able to build my beautiful island in the Caribbean. I certainly haven't regretted that.

Just where death is expecting you is something we cannot know; so, for your part, expect him everywhere.