In life, the classroom is everywhere. The exam comes at the very end.

Don't ever confuse the two, your life and your work. The second is only part of the first.

I have a cat, the pet that ranks just above a throw pillow in terms of required responsibility.

A life of unremitting caution, without the carefree - or even, occasionally, the careless - may turn out to be half a life.

I went to a women's college. ... it was a little like learning to swim while holding on to the side of the pool; I didn't learn the arm movements until after I graduated, but by that time I was one hell of a kicker.

Your kids are launched. You love your work but you understand how to place it in the panorama of the rest of your life. There's this line in the book, and when I wrote it I thought yes, that's it - if you think of life as a job, maybe by the time you get to, say, in my case, 60, you've finally gotten good at it.

The New Testament has had a really powerful effect on how I write and how I live my life.