Patriotism is not necessarily defined as blind devotion to a president's particular agenda - and that to dispute a presidential policy is not necessarily anti-American.

I've always been interested in miracles, or the miraculous of the unexplained. I don't scoff at what makes people believe or want to believe. I think I understand the tremendous attraction of the mysteries of the church to the same degree that I understand and appreciate the frustration people feel, especially believers, with the human rule-making arm of the church, with the not-miraculous part of the church - any church.

You can learn a lot from your lovers, but-for the most part-you get to keep your friends longer, and you learn more from them.

Writing a novel is actually searching for victims. As I write I keep looking for casualties. The stories uncover the casualties.

We will often do anything to pretend that nothing is on our minds.

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

Death, it seems," Garp wrote, "does not like to wait until we are prepared for it. Death is indulgent and enjoys, when it can, a flair for the dramatic.