All of the promises of politicians, generals, madmen, and crusaders that war can create peace have yet to be borne out.

the novel is inherently a political instrument, regardless of its subject. It invites you - more than invites you, induces you - to live inside another person's skin. It creates empathy. And that's the antidote to bigotry. The novel doesn't just tell you about another life, which is what a newspaper would do. It makes you live another life, inhabit another perspective. And that's very important.

I personally am inclined to approach [housework] the way governments treat dissent: ignore it until it revolts.

This will be Great Mam's last spring. Her last June apples. Her last fresh roasting ears from the garden.

Listen. To live is to be marked. To live is to change, to acquire the words of a story, and that is the only celebration we mortals really know. In perfect stillness, frankly, I've only found sorrow.

Lies are infinite in number, and the truth so small and singular.

she's never forgotten, either, how a mystery caught in the hand could lose its grace