...whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. And peace will be with you.

Every one of us is called upon, perhaps many times, to start a new life. A frightening diagnosis, a marriage, a move, loss of a job...And onward full-tilt we go, pitched and wrecked and absurdly resolute, driven in spite of everything to make good on a new shore. To be hopeful, to embrace one possibility after another--that is surely the basic instinct...Crying out: High tide! Time to move out into the glorious debris. Time to take this life for what it is.

When people are frightened about going hungry and paying their mortgages, a scarcity model begins to prevail; they fear someone else will get their piece of the pie.

Something in me was always watching life from the outside, permanently obsessed with the notion of belonging vs. not-belonging [to a group]. It did not make for a happy childhood, but it was excellent training for a writer.

No reporter worth his buttons will let the facts intrude on a good story.

The average food item on a U.S. grocery shelf has traveled farther than most families go on their annual vacations.

After 'The Poisonwood Bible' was published, several people believed that my parents were missionaries, which could not be further from the truth.