Lies were only as strong as the suckers that believed them.

It is always hardest for me to write a book that has kids in it close to my kids' ages. It is always hardest for me to write a book that has kids in it close to my kids' ages.

Someone real," I hear myself saying. "Someone who never has to pretend, and who I never have to pretend around. Someone who's smart, but knows how to laugh at himself. Someone who would listen to a symphony and start to cry, because he understands music can be too big for words. Someone who knows me better than I know myself. Someone I want to talk to first thing in the morning and last thing at night. Someone I feel like I've known my whole life, even if I haven't.

My brother believed in all sorts of mythical creatures: pixies, dragons, werewolves, honest men.

Music therapy, to me, is music performance without the ego. It's not about entertainment as much as its about empathizing. If you can use music to slip past the pain and gather insight into the workings of someone else's mind, you can begin to fix a problem.

We're [parents]) always bluffing, pretending we know best, when most of the time we're just praying we won't screw up too badly.

Inside each of us is a monster; inside each of us is a saint. The real question is which one we nurture the most, which one will smite the other.