I ended up in the US for a month or so, before moving to Montreal with some Romanian friends.

I don't run away from a challenge because I am afraid. Instead, I run toward it because the only way to escape fear is to trample it beneath your feet.

When you fall, leap to your feet and try again.

My marriage to my husband, Bart Conner in 1996 is my proudest personal moment.

One of the most difficult times in my life was when I escaped from Romania in November of 1989.

Of course, I grew up in Communist Romania, but I am happy to say that now our country is democratic, and prospering, since the revolution in 1989.

Work hard for your goals and live in the moment.

Jump off the beam, flip off the bars follows your dreams, and reach for the stars

Romanians have a saying, 'Not every dog has a bagel on its tail.' It means that not all streets are paved with gold. When I began my career, I just wanted to do cartwheels.

I believe that you should gravitate to people who are doing productive and positive things with their lives.

Hard work has made it easy. That is my secret. That is why I win.

If Chess is the switch, ” Loretta said, “how does he turn the Fog off?” Bea bit her lower lip. “I don’t know—ask Chess.” “How would I know?” I said. “You try being a switch.

A little love, a little kindness, a little hope, a little joyfulness, a little tolerance, a little gratefulness, brings harmony and creates peacefulness.

The greatest lesson came with the realization that good food cannot be reduced to single ingredients. It requires a web of relationships to support it.

The drums of Africa still beat in my heart. They will not let me rest while there is a single Negro boy or girl without a chance to prove his worth.

Why is it, I wondered, that old people are always so self-centered and excitable? But I just smiled benignly and stood back, comforted by the thought that soon they would be dead.

I tend to write poetry that is rich in data of various sorts. The lyric poem isn't perfectly suited to accommodating such data, so I've had to find new ways to say everything that I want to say.

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but us sheep know, true beauty is not in the eye: it lives in the mind.

I've worked out a Ninja Replacement Score for novels. It's basically the number of characters that need to be replaced by ninjas to make the book good.

I am most alive when I let myself be touched by the fingers of life.

Make decisions from the strong part of you, not the weak.