the four virtues a person needs in order to be safe and happy in life: intelligence, friendship, strength and (I love this one) poetry.

If we never leave our house except to drive to work, do we need to be even remotely aware of this powerful, humbling, extraordinary and eternal life force that surges and ebbs around us all the time? Apparently not. Because we have stopped paying attention.

I am determined to make the most of this life that I have, damn it - it's that kind of stubbornness I think we all need more of.

I spent a week living as a man. Which was actually, I'm sorry to say, embarrassingly easy for me to do.

As a writer, you always read in two minds: You read as a reader and you enjoy it, and you look at it as a writer, and you just admire the architecture and the construction.

It is completely acceptable to be tired because it means you're working hard. But it's not acceptable to be stressed because that means things are going wrong or your head is broken.

Attraversiamo (meaning "Lets cross over" in Italian)