The stress of grad school can drive anyone temporarily mad.

To trust someone is to take the greatest risk of all. (180)

At first, when a child meets something that scares him, the fear grows, like a wave. But when he goes into the water and swims - gets used to the water - the wave grows small. If we pull the child away when the wave is high, he never sees that, never learns how to swim and remains afraid. If he gets a chance to feel strong, in control, that's called coping. When he copes, he feels better.

Optimism is denial for chumps with no life experience". "What's pessimism?" I said. "Religion without God.

I would never have been a novelist without working as a psychologist...it was a great education in human nature.

I don't practice, but I am still officially in paediatrics. I keep in touch with journals, and I have a very good data bank of medical information and there is a key thing for a writer knowing where to go. I know where to go to get the information that I need.

Therapist’s dilemma: those who need help the most, run the farthest from it.