Will power is not telling anybody you quit smoking.

Marriage entitles women to the protection of a strong man who will steady the stepladder while they paint the kitchen ceiling.

Think before you speak. Read before you think. This will give you something to think about that you didn't make up yourself - a wise move at any age, but most especially at seventeen, when you are in the greatest danger of coming to annoying conclusions.

The opposite of talking isn't listening. The opposite of talking is waiting.

In fact, we live in a culture where intelligence, exceptional or not, is reviled.

All the time I'm not writing I feel like a criminal. It's horrible to feel felonious every second of the day. It's much more relaxing to actually write.

To lose yourself in a book is the desire of the bookworm. I mean to be taken. That is my desire.