From the very beginning, I wrote to explain my own life to myself, and I invited any readers who chose to make the journey with me to join me on the high wire.

Without music, life is a journey through a desert.

It's impossible to explain to a Yankee what 'tacky' is. They simply have no word for it up north, but my God, do they ever need one.

I was born and raised on a Carolina sea island and I carried the sunshine of the low-country, inked in dark gold, on my back and shoulders.

I’ve never had anyone’s approval, so I’ve learned to live without it.

The most powerful words in English are, 'Tell me a story.'

Here is all I ask of a book- give me everything. Everything, and don't leave out a single word.

I stood face to face with the moon and the ocean and the future that spread out with all its bewildering immensity before me.

Good writing ... involves the agony of turning profoundly difficult thoughts into lucid form, then forcing them into the tight-fitting uniform of language, making them visible and clear.

There is no teacher more discriminating or transforming than loss.

The great teachers fill you up with hope and shower you with a thousand reasons to embrace all aspects of life.

Joy of life is to be content.

Every new morning brings new strength, new hope and new vision.

Things change pretty rapidly. But they don't change inevitably. They change because you work for it.

I was the only westerner to succeed in a place that's like a toilet, and you always come out of a toilet with a smell.

With warning hand I mark Time's rapid flight, From Life's glad morning to its solemn night; Yet, through the dear Lord's love, I also show There's light above me by the shade I throw.

Do I want to die from the inside out or the outside in?

I had to learn chord shapes... I bought books with chord charts. I used to listen to all kinds of pop music.

I don't want to speak for all people who don't have children, but maybe there's a discomfort with kids and the amount of attention they demand, by just being the age that they are.

I've always been a student, so I want to learn.

I never knew I had an inventive talent until Phrenology told me so. I was a stranger to myself until then!