I have an artistic temperament, which is a really tragic thing.

It never occurs to you when you are very young to need something other than what your parents have to offer you.

Love is a big and wonderful idea, but life is made up of small things. As a kid, you have nothing to do with the way the world is run; you just have to hurry to catch up with it.

Adolescents are attracted to tragic heroes. That's why rock stars dress like homeless people. Adolescence is a fall. It's when every child becomes an orphan.

A lot of children grow up in poverty with flawed parents, but their inner world is still as inherently filled with wonder and innocence as children who are kept away from the city's underbelly.

I had a ludicrous childhood, but I feel that I was able to profit from a lot of the idiotic and unfortunate things that happened to me by turning them into fiction.

You see only the beautiful things when you stand still. You only see things that you don't ordinarily notice. The birds are the prettiest things, I imagine.

In the temporary illumination of the headlights, the insects were scribbling out messages from God that we couldn't get.

Adolescents are still children in that they can't yet tell the difference between make believe and fiction.

The stars are always up in the sky...then when it is perfectly black, they feel less vulnerable and out they come.

Somewhere, a sparrow is singing in B minor.

True happiness is when the love that is within us finds expression in external activities.

If someone does not consider those around them to be valuable and hold only themselves in high regard, they too have a very bad self-esteem.

Stretch yourself a bit to know the difference between humans and heroes.

Life takes us to unexpected places sometimes. The future is never set in stone, remember that.

It is surely easier to confess a murder over a cup of coffee than in front of a jury.

I cook and I really believe in the family dinner, I think that's a nice time to bring the family together.

Healthcare is very much a high priority for me. Healthcare is also a huge issue for business, both big and small.

All our efforts to defeat poverty and pursue sustainable development will be in vain if environmental degradation and natural resource depletion continue unabated.

it is axiomatic with most writing people that there are no such things as perfect conditions for work.

I think my kids are pretty well-rounded citizens of the world.