[In the aftermath of death] Small talk feels too small, big talk too enormous.

Life is not so much about beginnings and endings as it is about going on and on and on. It is about muddling through the middle.

People have writer's block not because they can't write, but because they despair of writing eloquently.

My mother was an incredibly loving mother.

When you really want to say no, say no. You can't do everything - or at least not well.

Your hair isn't quite right and maybe you're a size bigger than you should be and on and on and on. I think there comes a moment when you've matured to the point where you suddenly think, nonsense. I am fine just the way I am.

If God had meant Harvard professors to appear in People magazine, She wouldn't have invented The New York Review of Books.