I believe in the possibility of miracles but, more to the point, I believe in our need for them.

From time to time, I do consider that I might be mad. Like any self-respecting lunatic, however, I am always quick to dismiss any doubts about my sanity.

...like a scene from the swamps of Louisiana or the mind of Poe on opium.

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.

I'm no more a wonder than anyone. And that's what makes the world magical. Every baby's a seed of wonder - that gets watered or it doesn't.

Not all popular novelists are good, but all good novelists are, sooner or later, popular.

Your sense of responsibility to others can never be excessive.