I'm never going to tell the reader what to believe; I'm going to examine these characters that believe different ways, and examine their motives.

Poor Congo, barefoot bride of men who took her jewels and promised the Kingdom.

Oh, mercy. If it catches you in the wrong frame of mind, the King James Bible can make you want to drink poison in no uncertain terms.

I had decided early on that if I couldn’t dress elegant, I’d dress memorable.

When I want to take God at his word exactly, I take a peep out the window at His creation. Because that, darling, He makes fresh for us everyday.

I didn't study writing in school, I studied biology as an undergraduate and graduate student. So I think that I write fiction in the scientific way. I love invention, obviously; I love creation of character. But I do feel very rooted in the real world, even in the way that I create characters.

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