The first sentence of a book is a handshake, perhaps an embrace.

That's what books are for... to travel without moving an inch.

Fiction is the only way I know a human being can inhabit the mind of another human being.

Pack a pillow and blanket and see as much of the world as you can.You will not regret it.

I am drawn to any story that makes me want to read from one sentence to the next. I have no other criterion.

A bicultural upbringing is a rich but imperfect thing

Pet names are a persistant remnant of childhood, a reminder that life is not always so serious, so formal, so complicated. They are a reminder, too, that one is not all things to all people.

Somehow, bad news, however ridden with static, however filled with echoes, always manages to be conveyed.

That the last two letters in her name were the first two in his, a silly thing he never mentioned to her but caused him to believe that they were bound together.

It didn't matter that I wore clothes from Sears; I was still different. I looked different. My name was different. I wanted to pull away from the things that marked my parents as being different.

We are all #humans and we all make #mistakes. We #hurt people even if we don't want to.

words, you see, " he said, looking at me again, "allow us to make permanent what is essentially transient.Turn a world filled with injustice and hurt into a place that is beautiful and lyrical.

So I left words of forgiveness to God and liars and I enjoyed my hatred.

[God] disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness.

Old age is the new childhood.

No matter what looms ahead if you can eat today enjoy the sunlight today mix good cheer with friends today enjoy it and bless God for it.

It is certain that at certain times talent entirely overcomes thought or poetry.

To refuse political equality is to rob the ostracized of all self-respect.

Look at me, with my pretty bracelet and tiara... I'm a f****n' princess!

Now North Korea certainly is located in a different place geographically, but I think it faces the same type of strategic decision. Does it want a different future for its people?

If I can make people smile, then I have served my purpose for God.