If you want to be happy for life, love what you do.

live your life as if you may lose everything.

A library is a path to the future--find yours there.

I am a natural optimist but there were times when (it seemed like) I was doing nothing but adding up on the back of envelope what I had to pay this month.

Happines is like mercury. Hard to hold, and when we drop it, it shatters into a million pieces. Maybe the bravest of all are those who have the courage to reach for it again.

The truth is I hate cocktail parties when the only person I know is my supposed date, and he abandons me the minute we come in the door.

When someone is mean to me, I just make them a victim in my next book.

Funny, when you finally faced reality, it was amazing how clearly you could see things.

When a scientist's son or daughter becomes a scientist they'll say Wonderful! Wonderful! So, why, in the name of God, would a mother be jealous to see her daughter become a successful writer?

It's funny how, even long after you've accepted the grief of losing someone you love and truly have gotten on with your life, every once in a while something comes up that plays gotcha, and for a moment or two the scar tissue separates and the wound is raw again.

Writing is storytelling. No matter how you slice it, you're saying, 'Once upon a time.' That's what writing is all about.

The first four months of writing the book, my mental image is scratching with my hands through granite. My other image is pushing a train up the mountain, and it's icy, and I'm in bare feet.

The flame of inspiration needs to be encouraged. Put a glass around that small candle and protect it from discouragement or ridicule.