Naming is nice. It took me days before I was able to speak a name for my first child (what if people did not like it?), and I suspect we gave her a secret, second name as well, to keep her safe.

People do not change, they are merely revealed.

Only bad writers think that their work is really good.

Write whatever way you like. Fiction is made of words on a page; reality is made of something else. It doesn't matter how "real" your story is, or how "made up": what matters is its necessity.

God, I hate my family, these people I never chose to love, but love all the same.

We do not always like the people we love- we do not always have that choice.

I have no place left to live but in my own heart.

The way to write a book is to actually write a book. A pen is useful, typing is also good. Keep putting words on the page.

I’m really lucky with the people around me. They know me, so they don’t confuse the issues really. They know what a book is and they know who I am and they know the difference between the two.

There are men who would do anything, asleep, and I'm not sure what stops them when they wake. I do not know how they draw the line.

Description is hard. Remember that all description is an opinion about the world. Find a place to stand.

Look, at those foolish men in my day we did it the proper way!” he started to say as if he was looking deep within his memory.

I would rather be kept alive in the efficient if cold altruism of a large hospital than expire in a gush of warm sympathy in a small one.

To restore the trust of the people, we must reform the way the government operates.

The causes of illusions are not pretty to discover. They're either vicious or tragic.

I wish I could be like Shaw who once read a bad review of one of his plays, called the critic and said: 'I have your review in front of me and soon it will be behind me.'

I think particularly on the left, progressives wanted more bombast and more.

I just love all the details about movies, and it's fun to be involved in everything. I just love it. It's just a little added fun thing to be consulted about stuff.

Sometimes to go forward you've got to go to the depths of your own personal despair and claw yourself back. From that point, no matter what happens, you know you can do it.

The Rosary is a school for learning true Christian perfection.

Crocodiles. I’ve been catching them since I was nine. No problem.