Those who don't heed the warnings don't live to admit they were stupid not to do so.

You write a book and you hope somebody will go out and pay $24.95 for what you've just said. I think books were my salvation. Books saved me from being miserable.

Isn't hate merely the result of wounded love?

I felt foolish and tired, as if I had been running to escape someone chasing me, only to look behind to discover there was no one there.

Then you must teach my daughter this same lesson. How to lose your innocence but not your hope. How to laugh forever.

Why do some memories live only on your tongue or in your nose? Why do others always stay in your heart?

I have survivor skills. Some of that is superficial - what I present to people outwardly - but what makes people resilient is the ability to find humour and irony in situations that would otherwise overpower you.