When I read students’ attempts at creative writing it is obvious immediately that most of them have not read much or widely. The aspiring writer must read everything he or she can to appreciate the myriad ways words are used and to what effect.

Books, and especially fiction, do not proceed from ideas. They are born from feelings

Often, the human animal dresses terror in rage, and expresses both in a way unlike either.

Being a failure at living your own life as best as you can is better than being a success living the life somebody else says you should live.

... the object of learning was not to build a better mousetrap but to ask a better question.

I'm tired of thinking and I'm really tired of Feeling. —Jenna Richards

Goodness was not a trait you acquired; it was a value you practiced when you were on the verge of doing evil.