I thought it was something peculiar to me. I thought I was abnormal.

The young women in my classes are feisty and clever and believe, often with the passion of youthful optimism, that feminism is a battle already won. I worry for them - and for my daughters, too.

I'm working on a nonfiction book on Nepal and a novel about diasporas.

The richest most meaningful stories are found in small places: made, carried, crafted, told, and retold by apparently unimportant people.

Sometimes I like to play the soundtracks to famous musicals so we can all sing along. South Pacific is one of my favorites. Our neighbors must hate us.

If you can't return a favor, pass it on.

Never give up. And most importantly, be true to yourself. Write from your heart, in your own voice, and about what you believe in.

I can't pick out one single book that had such a profound personal impact.

It took a brave editor in the U.S. to sign a contract for Dancing Girls, and without her belief in the book, I'm not sure it would ever have found its way into print.

Don't call 'em dogs. Dogs are loyal and they run after balls.

I could write an entertaining novel about rejection slips, but I fear it would be overly long.

Best friend is like a pen and we're the paper. We'll not complete without their ink

Why is it that we so easily confide secrets to strangers that we so carefully hide from ourselves?

God save us from living in comfort while sinners are sinking into hell!

He who negates present society, and seeks social conditions based on the sharing of property, is a revolutionary whether he calls himself an anarchist or a communist.

If things go wrong, don't go with them.

Notice, for example, that people who talk about "the joys of childhood" are always adults. Only an adult, utterly remote from the reality of childhood, could suppose it is time of joys.

I am more stupid about some things than others; not equally stupid in all directions; I am not a well-rounded person.

I enjoy tutoring. I just really enjoy the experience of teaching.

Does that mean," asked Mack, "that all roads will lead to you?" "Not at all," smiled Jesus..."Most roads don't lead anywhere. What it does mean is that I will travel any road to find you.

I can't even remember the first time I started singing.