And a great misunderstanding is that children think their parents are grown-up, and parents feel obliged to act as if they were.

The life you have led doesn't need to be the only life you have.

All of life like a series of tableaux, and in the living we missed so much, hid so much, left so much undone and unsaid.

There is a lot of talk now about metal detectors and gun control. Both are good things. But they are no more a solution than forks and spoons are a solution to world hunger.

The problem with freedom is that you just can't go back. Once people see what it means to be free people, you can't go back. So they're going to keep nattering on about this and that, and maybe they'll make another stab at de-funding the fabulous Planned Parenthood or something of the sort. To my mind, it's just not going to work.

This is why I had children: to offer them a perfect dream of childhood that can fill their souls as they grow older.

Life is so messy that the temptation to straighten it up is very strong. And the results always illusory.