Reading can be a road to freedom or a key to a secret garden, which, if tended, will transform all of life.

The name we give to something shapes our attitude toward it.

To fear is one thing. To let fear grab you by the tail and swing you around is another.

It is not enough to simply teach children to read; we have to give them something worth reading.

Peace is not won by those who fiercely guard their differences, but by those who with open minds and hearts seek out connections.

I love revision. Where else can spilled milk be turned into ice cream?

As much pleasure as young people get from Twittering and texting, there is no way these activities will nourish their minds and spirits the way literature can.

As I look back on what I have written, I can see that the very persons who have taken away my time are those who have given me something to say.

Some folks are natural born kickers. They can always find a way to turn disaster into butter.

I love to read. But I loved to read a lot longer than I started to love writing.

I love revisions...We can't go back and revise our lives, but being allowed to go back and revise what we have written comes closest.

The soul identifies with the spirit.

Hope is the light through which we see the future.

Maybe money can't buy happiness, but it can get you a nice little villa in Tuscany, and that's close enough for me.

We seek the fire of the spark that is already within us.

I think you can't dip your toe in and dip your toe out. I think either you're in it or you're not.

I (naively) thought university training would make you better in following what happens in the world.

Habit creates the appearance of justice; progress has no greater enemy than habit.

Gastronomy is the greatest form of therapy that anyone can be exposed to.

You can't get from A to Z by passing up B.

He wasn't a medical doctor, just educated all the way up as far as you can get.