That's why we read fiction, isn't it? To remind us that whatever we suffer, we're not the only ones?

There's always going to be bad stuff out there. But here's the amazing thing -- light trumps darkness, every time. You stick a candle into the dark, but you can't stick the dark into the light.

When we're awake, we see what we need to see. When we're asleep, we see what is really there.

I don't believe in God. But sitting there, in a room full of those who feel otherwise, I realize that I do believe in people. In their strength to help each other, and to thrive in spite of the odds, I believe that the extraordinary trumps the ordinary, any day. I believe that having something to hope for -- even if it's just a better tomorrow -- is the most powerful drug on this planet.

That's why we read fiction, isn't it? To remind us that whatever we suffer, we're not the only ones?

I don't have to live the lives of my characters to write about them. It's about really putting yourself in their shoes.

If you're afraid of everyone leaving you, what do you do?" Make them stay." And if you can't do that, or don't know how to?" Ellie shrugged. "I don't know." Yes, you do. In fact, you've done it. You leave first," Coop said, "so you don't have to watch them walk away.