It's an awful truth that suffering can deepen us, give a greater lustre to our colours, a richer resonance to our words. That is, if it doesn't destroy us, if it doesn't burn away the optimism and the spirit, the capacity for visions, and the respect for simple yet indispensable things.

Memory was a curse, yes, he thought, but it was also the greatest gift. Because if you lost memory you lost everything.

I read The Old Curiosity Shop before I began Blackwood Farm. I was amazed at the utter madness in that book.

I claim Dickens as a mentor. He's my teacher. He's one of my driving forces.

Evil is just a point of view

I picture heaven as a vast library, with unlimited volumes to read. And paintings and statues to examine galore. I picture it as a great doorway to learning...rather than one great dull answer to all our questions

You look good to me, you damnable little devil, good to embrace and good to love.