For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you. Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave. They show us what community and friendship mean; they show us how to live and die.

You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.

One thing I know for sure about raising children is that every single day a kid needs discipline.... But also every single day a kid needs a break.

...It really IS easier to experience spiritual connection when your life is in the process of coming apart.

Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere.

I know some very great writers, writers you love who write beautifully and have made a great deal of money, and not one of them sits down routinely feeling wildly enthusiastic and confident. Not one of them writes elegant first drafts. All right, one of them does, but we do not like her very much. We do not think that she has a rich inner life or that God likes her or can even stand her. (Although when I mentioned this to my priest friend Tom, he said that you can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.)

A good marriage is where both people feel like they're getting the better end of the deal.