Don't forget this, too: Rumors aren't interested in the unsensational story; rumors don't care what's true.

Whereas she wished more of the population were better educated, she also believed that education was largely wasted on the majority of the people she met.

It is hard work and great art to make life not so serious.

The powerful wind swept his hair away from his face; he leaned his chest into the wind, as if he stood on the deck of a ship heading into the wind, slicing through the waves of an ocean he’d not yet seen.

Never confuse faith, or belief — of any kind — with something even remotely intellectual.

If you feel strongly about people having abortions, don't have one.

I believe in plot, in development of character, in the effect of the passage of time, in a good story - better than something you might find in the newspaper. And I believe a novel should be as complicated and involved as you're capable of making it.