My novels are very much the same, as I think many people's novels are.

Writing is a job, a talent, but it's also the place to go in your head. It is the imaginary friend you drink your tea with in the afternoon.

Part of it is living in Tennessee. I'm so out of the loop. And as a person, I'm out of the loop. I'm oblivious by nature.

Never be so focused on what you're looking for that you overlook the thing you actually find.

No matter how much we love a book, the experience of reading it isn't complete until we can give it to someone who will love it as much as we do

Only a few of us are going to be willing to break our own hearts by trading in the living beauty of imagination for the stark disappointment of words.

You are always someones favorite unfolding story

Just because things hadn't gone the way I had planned didn't necessarily mean they had gone wrong.

I can write for any magazine now, in any voice. I can do it in two hours, I could do it in my sleep, it's like writing a grocery list.

There can be something cruel about people who have had good fortune. They equate it with personal goodness.

Sometimes not having any idea where we’re going works out better than we could possibly have imagined.

Be you wise and never sad, You will get your lovely lad.Never serious be, nor true, And your wish will come to you--And if that makes you happy, kid, You'll be the first it ever did.

In this age, lies were the universal lubricant of the culture. A love of Truth and commitment to it were seldom rewarded and were often punished.

When an old truth ceases to be applicable, it does not become any truer by being stood on its head.

It's wonderful to know that the power to define who I am rests solely with me. If I decide I am an artist, or a poet, a teacher or a writer then I AM.

A friend is a stranger that you have come to know better.

It seems like such a terrible shame that innocent civilians have to get hurt in wars, otherwise combat would be such a wonderfully healthy way to rid the human race of unneeded trash.

In politics you learn to always smile.

My sole ambition as a composer is to hurl my javelin into the infinite space of the future.

Your children are your legacy to the world. As you raise them with love, you contribute to making this world a better place.

Depression starts slow.