I am an affirmative action hire.

Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey. They are home.

I'm not making light of prayers here, but of so-called school prayer, which bears as much resemblance to real spiritual experienceas that freeze-dried astronaut food bears to a nice standing rib roast. From what I remember of praying in school, it was almost an insult to God, a rote exercise in moving your mouth while daydreaming or checking out the cutest boy in the seventh grade that was a far, far cry from soul-searching.

The voices of conformity speak so loudly. Don't listen to them. No one does the right thing out of fear. If you ever utter the words, 'We've always done it that way,' I urge you to wash out your mouth with soap.

the most sacred business of judges is not to ratify the will of the majority but to protect the minority from its tyranny.

My father really, really pushed me to excel in a way that I resented for years and then realized had really worked for me.

My father expected his first child to be a boy, and when it didn't turn out that way he didn't let the fact get in the way of a good story.