A novelist has two lives-- a reading and writing life, and a lived life. he or she cannot be understood at all apart from this.

Not every novel that wants to be a tragedy gets to be one.

The fundamental condition of childhood is powerlessness.

Another thing I learned is that novels, even those from apparently distant times and places, remain current and enlightening, and also comforting.

Vets do what doctors used to - diagnose the injury or the condition, patch it up as best they can and remind you that these things happen and that in life we are also in the midst of death.

I discovered that the horse is life itself, a metaphor but also an example of life's mystery and unpredictability, of life's generosity and beauty, a worthy object of repeated and ever changing contemplation.

The essence of charity ... was not deciding what others needed and giving it to them, but giving them what they wanted.