She had always assumed that she would have years to sort out the meaning of life... As she bent over the child she realized that the tragedy of death had to do entirely with what was left unfulfilled.

In writing, as in medicine, there are no short cuts. You need stamina.

He had so many ways of climbing into the tree house in his head, escaping the madness below, and pulling the ladder up behind him.

In an emergency, what treatment is given by ear? Words of Comfort.

My VIP patients often regret so many things on their deathbeds. They regret the bitterness they'll leave in people's hearts. They realize the no money, no church service, no eulogy, no funeral procession no matter how elaborate, can remove the legacy of a mean spirit.

There is that lovely feeling of one reader telling another, 'You must read this.' I've always wanted to write a book like that, with the sense that you are contributing to the discourse in middle America, a discourse that begins at a book club in a living room, but then spreads. That is meaningful to me.

Patients know in a heartbeat if they're getting a clumsy exam.