I was 46 when 'Cold Mountain' came out. I was settled. We had a nice house in Raleigh and a horse farm.

I met people when we lived down in Raleigh who'd ask where I grew up, and I'd say about two hours west of Asheville, and they'd say they didn't know there was any North Carolina two hours west of Asheville. It was in many ways an isolated place.

If I had to give up reading or give up listening to music, I suspect I'd stick with the music.

Claim your space. Draw a circle of light around it. Push back against the dark. Don't just survive. Celebrate.

We mark some days as fair, some as foul, because we do not see that the character of every day as identical

Marrying a woman for her beauty makes no more sense than eating a bird for its singing. But it's a common mistake nonetheless.

Surely it is a sin to reject the few gifts we are given. Be happy in the flash of time granted to us or hurt forever.