Behind every closed door might wait a thief of minds and a collector of souls.

When it came to formal classes, I was a slacker. But I've always been a diligent autodidact and can teach myself virtually any subject if I have a serious interest in it.

Wealth is power, and power is the only thing about which contemporary culture cares.

One of the greatest gifts we receive from dogs is the tenderness they evoke in us

In our age, self-indulgence and self-destruction, rather than self-sacrifice, are the foundations for new heroic myths.

Much of her life had been lived like a balancing act on a spearpoint fence, and on a particularly difficult night when she was twelve, she had decided that instinct was, in fact, the quiet voice of God. Prayers did receive replies, but you had to listen closely and believe in the answer. At twelve, she wrote in her diary: "God doesn't shout; He whispers, and in the whisper is the way.

... one of those librarians who rules the stacks with an intimidating scowl, whispers quiet sharply enough to lacerate the tender inner tissues of the ear, and will pursue an overdue-book fine with the ferocity of a rabid ferret.