Sometimes it seemed to him that his life was delicate as a dandelion. One little puff from any direction, and it was blown to bits.

Our fundamental task as human beings is to seek out connections-to exercise our imaginations.

If we marvel at the artist who has written a great book, we must marvel more at those people whose lives are works of art and who don't even know it, who wouldn't believe it if they were told. However hard work good writing may be, it is easier than good living.

Reading has made such a profound difference to my life. I'm sure I became a writer because of the power of literature in my own life.

I realize, of course, that I wasn't born knowing how to read. I just can't imagine a time when I didn't know how.

A friend of mine who writes history books said to me that he thought that the two creatures most to be pitied were the spider and the novelist - their lives hanging by a thread spun out of their own guts. But in some ways I think writers of fiction are the creatures most to be envied, because who else besides the spider is allowed to take that fragile thread and weave it into a pattern? What a gift of grace to be able to take the chaos from within and from it to create some semblance of order.

I love to read. But I loved to read a lot longer than I started to love writing.