They all looked very much like the residents of any small valley to which you've never been.

Time is a gift, given to you, given to give you the time you need, the time you need to have the time of your life.

So many things are possible just as long as you don't know they're impossible.

...it's not just learning that's important. It's learning what to do with what you learn and learning why you learn things that matters.

You must never feel badly about making mistakes.

The most important reason for going from one place to another is to see what's in between, and they took great pleasure in doing just that.

The only thing you can do easily is be wrong, and that's hardly worth the effort.

Expect everything, I always say, and the unexpected never happens.

But I suppose there's a lot to see everywhere, if only you keep your eyes open.

A good book written for children can be read by adults

A slavish concern for the composition of words is the sign of a bankrupt intellect. Be gone, odious wasp! You smell of decayed syllables.

It is not enough to be a man.

Immersed in surrender and gratitude, celestial pearls of wisdom form rosaries of prayer that entangle with my soul.

But Kate, dost thou understand thus much English? Canst thou love me?"Catherine: "I cannot tell."Henry: "Can any of your neighbours tell, Kate? I'll ask them.

An intellectual is a man who doesn't know how to park a bike.

If I could write a letter to my teenage self I'd probably say something like: "You ain't gonna believe what will become of you."

Those who matter don't mind, and those who mind don't matter.

I'm an African-American writer, I'm a lazy writer, I'm a writer who likes to watch The Wire, I'm a writer who likes to eat a lot of steak.

There is no such thing as character other than the habitual action, as Mr. Aristotle told us two thousand years ago.

I'm not a natural ocean person. I married into a family of swimmers, and I've slowly been drawn into the sea.

I'm giving everyone involved 24 hours to make it right or the world will hear how I really feel.