I'm not a big Austen reader. I wouldn't say I dislike her, but if I had to choose between her and Eliot to bring to a desert island, it would definitely be Eliot.

Having a baby is like getting a tattoo on your face. You really need to be certain it's what you want before you commit.

For if there is one thing I have learned over the years about men, it is that feelings of powerlessness do not usually bring forth their finest qualities.

The trick at every turn was to endure the test of living for as long as possible. The odds of survival were punishingly slim, for the world was naught by a school of calamity and an endless burning furnace of tribulation. But those who survived the world shaped it--even as the world, simultaneously, shaped them.

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.

The beauty and variety of the natural world are merely the visible legacies of endless war.

If I could read while I was driving, showering, socializing or sleeping, I would do it.