I have known men to hazard their fortunes, go long journeys halfway about the world, forget friendships, even lie, cheat, and steal, all for the gain of a book.

Very young children eat their books, literally devouring their contents. This is one reason for the scarcity of first editions of Alice in Wonderland and other favorites of the nursery.

After love, book collecting is the most exhilarating sport of all.

Common sense is very uncommon. It is also shaped by your education.

The leader is a person who has the possibility through destiny to know the people, to recognize their capacities, and to bring them to bear on the problem.

I started writing because I had a need inside of me to create something that was not there

I am not a party girl.

I felt all the ways in which this world seemed so, so enormous--the height of the trees, the hush and tick of the forest, the shift of the sunlight and shadows--but also so, so removed.

If you light a lamp for somebody, it will also brighten your path.

You can't get anywhere flying under the radar.

But the good news was that my elder sister refused to get married straight away and I couldn't get married until she did so I had the licence to go off and dream

Lovers are not snails; they don't have to protrude from their shells and meet each other halfway. Meet me within your own self.

It is amazing how much can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit.