You don't get to decide your part in the school play, but you do get to decide whether or not you play it well.

Every piece of the puzzle that doesn't fit gets you closer to the answer.

You'll have a lot more respect for a bird after you try making a nest.

Nobody notices it when your zipper is up, but everyone notices when it's down.

It's easier to throw sticks on the campfire than to try to restart it when it goes out.

If you want to zoom down the expert slope tomorrow, you have to fall down the bunny slope today.

If you want pancakes for breakfast, offer to help make them.

Look at the footprints you've made.

Ten minutes is short if it's a recess and long if it's a punishment.

It's not enough to be able to spell "magnificence" in your bedroom. You have to be able to spell it at the microphone during the spelling bee.

If you want to see a shooting star, you might have to spend a lot of nights looking up.

Of course the servants had chosen not to follow me

To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent.

Earthquakes just happen. Tornadoes just happen. Your tongue does not just happen to fall into some other girl's mouth!

You cannot lead America to a positive tomorrow with revenge on one's mind. Revenge is so incredibly negative.

When I can't handle events, I let them handle themselves.

I'm mellower now, I'm over 50. But I don't think I'm too mellow. I'm still angry at a lot of things.

One significant thing that you can do for your children is to invest some time into taking them out into nature.

I don't think that growing up in the entertainment industry is the healthiest place for kids. The track record kind of shows that.

Good writing comes from good talent.

When I am thickening my plots, I like to think 'What if ... What if ... ' Thus my imagination can move from the likely, which everyone can think of, to the unlikely-but-possible, my preferred plot.